THE GREAT LEFT HOPE:

America’s mayor, but what’s next? (Rachelle G. Cohen, May 22, 2006 , Boston Herald)

[T]oday Giuliani stands alone before the hero worshipers - unblemished either by poor policy choices or events - and not unaware that there aren’t many left who can lead the Republican Party out of the wilderness in which it finds itself.

He is bemused that a book by New York Post columnist John Podhoretz is predicated on the notion that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) is on an inexorable march to the White House and that he might be the only Republican on the planet who can stop her.

“Hillary does look like the front runner at the moment,” Giuliani said in an interview. “I guess McCain and I share that role in our party. But she seems to have it all to herself right now.”

Only belatedly does he think to mention Sen. John Kerry or the retooled Al Gore.

McCain may be already off and running, but Giuliani is working on his own timetable.

“First we have to get through ’06, and it’s going to be very tight,” he said of the congressional elections. Oh, he’s been out and about making appearances for candidates and fundraising in North Carolina, Georgia, California. Sure it’s the right thing to do, but it also doesn’t hurt to collect those chits if a year from now - and that is his time frame - America’s mayor turns presidential contender.

“I’ll approach it from this point of view,” he said, “whether I can make a significant contribution.

“It will also depend on what the issues are a year from now,” he added, noting that voters look for different qualities in their leaders, depending on those issues.

And it is also - as it is for every potential contender - about the money.

To appreciate how far Right the country has shifted in the last several decades, consider that the Mayor is the most liberal person with a realistic shot at being the next president.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 22, 2006 8:39 AM