MB Civic

By CLYDE HABERMAN

IT was probably inevitable, and even sort of amazing that it took so long, but the post-9/11 honeymoon might be over for Rudolph W. Giuliani.

For nearly five years, the former mayor has been mentioned on the air and in print mainly in language bordering on the hagiographic. Lately, though, he has encountered somewhat rougher treatment, more like that endured by the
9/10 Rudy, whose only political future seemed to be no future at all.

There was, for example, a long article in Newsday last week on Mr. Giuliani’s partnership with a Houston law firm that has a platinum lineup of oil industry clients. Gas prices being what they are, this is hardly a great time for an ambitious politician to land in the same sentence with the words “big oil.”

A harder blow came over the weekend with the theater release of “Giuliani Time,” a film documentary that strives to de-sanctify the man who remains a Sept. 11 hero in many quarters.

The film does not pistol-whip Mr. Giuliani as ferociously as Michael Moore did President Bush in “Fahrenheit 9/11.” But it will do. Its themes are that this mayor was indifferent to the suffering of the poor, tin-eared on race, hostile to the First Amendment and far too ready to exaggerate his role in reducing crime.

Will Mr. Giuliani be harmed by an occasional negative article or by a documentary being shown for now in only one theater? Probably not.  Conceivably, “Giuliani Time” could even enhance his standing among the faithful.

But the road is bound to get bumpier for him as he pursues his White House dreams. Mr. Giuliani says he has not made up his mind about running. But if he isn’t at least dreaming about 2008, his schedule sure is funny. The other
week, he journeyed to Iowa. On Thursday he plans to raise money in Georgia for Ralph Reed, the former leader of the Christian Coalition, now running for lieutenant governor there.

Much of the speculation about the New Yorker’s plans has focused on whether he is too liberal on social issues to suit Republican conservatives. But if he does try for the presidency, other matters may surface, especially in light of Mr. Bush’s weakness in the polls. The president’s troubles lie to some extent in areas where Mr. Giuliani has his own record, one likely to upset most Democrats and maybe some Republicans.

For instance, one anti-Bush complaint is that his White House is abnormally secretive. The same accusation was hurled at Mayor Giuliani, who repeatedly denied information to legitimate watchdog groups, in and out of government.
When they took him to court, he usually lost.

MR. BUSH is criticized by some for his “you’re either with us or against us” stance. Similarly, “doesn’t play well with others” defined Mr. Giuliani’s mayoralty. One of his deputy mayors, Rudy Washington, said bluntly in 1998 that “the Giuliani administration doesn’t negotiate by consensus.” He added: “Never do we call people and ask for their advice and tell us what to do.”

Does the Bush White House, as critics charge, claim too much power for itself at the expense of individual rights? Here, from 1994, is Mr. Giuliani on a similar theme:

Freedom, he said, doesn’t mean doing whatever you want (a point that most people would find unexceptionable). “Freedom,” he continued, “is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to
cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do.”

For Mr. Bush, elections in the Middle East have been of paramount importance, dye-stained fingers and all. For Mayor Giuliani, elections were not necessarily sacrosanct. Until it became clear that he would not succeed, he tried after the 2001 terrorist attacks to circumvent the election to choose his successor.

Mr. Bush is in a political jam because of a war begun over outlawed weapons that did not exist. Reality has at times bedeviled Mr. Giuliani, too. One example is a 1998 speech in which he claimed to have been the one who rid New York subway trains of spray-painted graffiti. Actually, the last train scarred that way was yanked from service five years before he took office – by a state agency not under the mayor’s control.

So you see, if he does choose to run in two years, he may find it ever tougher to retain secular sainthood. But then, Mr. Giuliani surely knows that. It may even be the reason he ultimately decides that a run for the White House isn’t worth it.