Dean Barnett says Rudy Giuliani made a mistake by telling America, via a Barbara Walters interview, that his wife (Judith Nathan Giuliani, a/k/a/ "Number Three") would take part in cabinet meetings if he is elected president. Writes Barnett...
In response to Barbara Walters' question of whether he would allow his wife Judith to sit in on Cabinet meetings if he becomes president, Rudy Giuliani said, "If she wanted to. If they were relevant to something that she was interested in. I mean that would be something that I'd be very, very comfortable with." Across the nation, one could almost hear the other Republican presidential contenders heave hearty sighs of relief. Perhaps the Rudy juggernaut will indeed derail itself.
As if Rudy hadn't done enough damage by telling America that he would not only be "very comfortable" with his third wife sitting in on Cabinet meetings but adding an extra "very" for good measure, his wife joined the conversation adding that she would enthusiastically sit in on policy meetings if given the green light by her husband, "and certainly in the areas of health care." As Mrs. Giuliani's name will not be appearing on any ballot, the couple is staking out some rather bold turf here.
I have to agree with Barnett here. Judith Giuliani seems like a nice lady and she and Rudy clearly are deeply, madly in love with each other. But that's no qualification for helping run the government. And being a nurse doesn't make her qualified to set healthcare policy.
It looks to me as if Giuliani is thinking his current lead in the polls portends victory, even though it is 11 months before the first meaningful votes are cast, and the field isn't even set yet and probably won't be until late summer (Fred Thompson?) or perhaps early autumn (Newt Gingrich?). When you feel invincible you get careless - and then comes the fall.
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