"It's not that anybody wants him to fail in governing," says political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. "Because if he fails in governing, we all fail. But you can't ignore the fact that he refuses to listen to anyone or to take counsel. And the fact that Cristyne and all the other acolytes are there around him is an indication of that. She's not the problem; she's emblematic of the problem. He's the problem."

But in Giuliani's reach for higher office, she could become a problem. In a Senate campaign that attracts national attention, questions about their relationship -- which has been covered only intermittently by City Hall reporters -- would most likely increase in frequency and intensity.

So could the mostly hands-off policy regarding Giuliani's obviously strained marriage. Donna Hanover is the first lady of New York in name only. She bristles when she is referred to by her married name, she rarely appears with the mayor in public, she played no role in his last campaign, and she steadfastly refuses to even say whether she voted for him.

At her 25-year college reunion (Stanford), the organizers reproduced each student's yearbook picture and the little description that ran underneath it. And they also added an update. Hanover's little bio listed her name as Donna Hanover, and her address as Gracie Mansion. It said that after graduating, she went into journalism, working in various places, including Miami.

It went on to say she moved to New York, worked for Channel 11 and the Food Network, and then "I became first lady of New York." There's no mention of getting married, no mention of Rudolph Giuliani, and no mention of the mayor of the city of New York. This is how she sums up her life.

"It is perhaps the only good by-product of the mayor's horrible relationship with the press," says a former insider, "that the reporters know not to bring these subjects up. They know if they do, they won't get answers and they'll be publicly insulted for even asking the questions. But if the questions were asked more regularly, say, as they might be in a campaign for higher office, the mayor would be forced to spin more and to actually come up with some answers."

For Giuliani's supporters, and for people who, like me, believed there was so much early promise, the question that needs to be answered now is, what kind of character does he have? Is he capable of showing humility when events so clearly call for it?

Can he put aside this bizarre notion that he'd be "kowtowing" if he backs off just a little and extends himself to the city's minority communities? Can he make some meaningful changes in the Police Department to take that success to the next level? And can he spend whatever time he has left in office tackling something worthwhile?