Within the first weeks of the Giuliani Administration invitations were forwarded to me for Rudy from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the National League of Cities and other such groups. I thought this a great opportunity for Rudy to showcase his new ideas on a larger stage. Sort of a best practices kind of thing, although nothing had been tried or succeeded yet. I went to see him with the invites and to discuss some logistics for his participation at these events.
He cut me off with a wave of his hand. "We're not going to those", he informed me. "We're not?" I asked. "My participation only elevates them. It does nothing for us. Besides, I'm too busy," Rudy told me. He said it to me like I was an idiot for not having figured this out already. I tried a few more times over the coming months to get him to agree to at least one of these events. Staff from the various associations were calling to ask me why he was not attending. I never told them what he had said and blamed scheduling, being new in office - time pressures. But I thought Rudy was being narrow in his view. I thought it good for him and the City if he were to mingle with these other Mayors. It took a good three or four years but I finally saw that he was correct.
Rudy knew that who he was and what he was doing were singularly unique. When he needed other mayors they would come to him. We arranged for Mayor Ed Rendell to come to NYC for a weekend meeting with City Hall staff. I was so impressed that he drove himself with no escort. The NYPD met him at the NY-PA border, at our request, and escorted him from there to Gracie Mansion. Rudy was a huge fan of Steve Goldsmith, the Mayor of Indianapolis. His ideas were crucial on labor and productivity issues. But Rudy had them come to him. He knew, he foresaw, that soon mayors and more would be seeking audiences. He would later become insular and aloof but he believed that only through transforming New York would he achieve the recognition he sought. Actions speak louder then schmoozing. He was right.
What does this have to do with anything, especially conventions? I will tell you. Gone is that Rudy I've just described. In his place is a bad Willy Loman impression; knocking on network sky-booth doors high in the rafters of the Pepsi Center in Denver selling tired, cliched and not particularly insightful musings on the Democratic gathering. Forget that I happen to be a purist when it comes to such things. Conventions should be left to the party to make their case. I'm from the old school - you give the other side their time and then you hit em hard at yours. It's really rather unseemly to see the opposition party crashing the others convention to spin - that's what your convention is for. But there was Rudy trying to seem genuine and non-partisan in his "assessment" of Hillary's speech - even days after she had given it. No one was coming to him now. He was everywhere at the DNC. He was like the guest who wouldn't leave.
But here is why he has reached this nadir of his political life. Two possible scenarios. First, he is doing this, and will do much more before election day, in order to get a high position in the McCain Administration. One year ago a job, any job, in someone else's cabinet would have been totally unthinkable. Even a veep slot would have been pretty unimaginable. Then came his disastrous campaign. There are only four jobs he would consider worthy: State, Defense, CIA & Justice. State and Defense seem unlikely from a McCain perspective. But CIA & Justice are possibilities. Heading back to his roots: supervising all those U.S. Attorneys, running the BOP and the U.S. Marshalls. Or even better, managing spooks during the war on terror. Both pretty appealing to Rudy. He will try and maintain this genuine, earnest persona as he campaigns for McCain. But he will do whatever McCain asks, make no mistake. You'll see requests from the McCain camp for attack dog Rudy. Rudy will do it too because he lacks a political memory even for his own career. Pit bulling Obama will only bring back echoes of Cuomo 1994. But Rudy won't remember that.
The "community organizer" crack has probably finished him off in NY politics. I guarantee you he doesn't realize that either. There is a giddiness that overtakes Rudy when he is on the attack that puts all sound judgment and advice aside.
Second scenario: Rudy will still do whatever McCain asks but only to keep his firm, Giuliani Partners, at the top of everyone's list when hiring.....I'm not really sure why they hire him or for what, but someone must know and he and the crew over there want to keep the money rolling in. The easiest way to ensure that is for everyone to know quite openly that he has major, major entre at the new White House. He did fantastically with Bush. They would deny him nothing. He wants that with McCain.
I lied. I promised you two scenarios but I'm going to give you two and a half. If I had to put money down I would say the likely outcome is a fusion of one and two. He won't take a major cabinet post. He'll focus on the firm but will be prominent with lots of Boards and Commissions. Something like Chairman of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. Or maybe a seat on the board of the Kennedy Center for Judith. And if Giuliani Partners can recover sufficiently from the post campaign slump, maybe an apartment at the Watergate. He also may have his eye on that mansion on Eagle Street in Albany and you can't live there running from Langley.
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