It was a day of celebration for Rudy Giuliani today at City Hall, where his official mayoral portrait was finally unveiled nearly nine years after he left office. But will his time as mayor remain his life’s crowning achievement? Perhaps not. Because, despite a disastrous run for president in 2008 in which Giuliani mostly ignored early primary states in the hopes that a win in Florida would propel him to the nomination, then lost Florida to both John McCain and Mitt Romney Giuliani says he’s at least open to another run in 2012. Reports Politico’s Maggie Haberman:
He said he won’t think about anything until after the November midterm elections, and that he gets encouraged by people as he travels.
I asked, “So the door’s not closed?” and he replied, “The door’s not closed.”
The Republican nomination in 2012 is wide open, so, who knows what could happen. But if he couldn’t come close in 2008, what makes him think 2012 will be any different? He has the same baggage and liabilities as he did then, and would be a decade removed from the post-9/11 leadership that had catapulted him to hero status. Perhaps Giuliani is merely taking Newt Gingrich’s old advice: “Say you’re leaving the door open, and the national press will pay a lot more attention to your viewpoint.”
Giuliani: ‘Door’s not closed’ on 2012 [Politico]
Unveiling a Familiar Face at City Hall [Metropolis/WSJ]
