Next decision for Giuliani: A run for Senate?
Photo credit: Getty Images | Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks to the media at the Molinari Republican Club dinner on November 16, 2009 in Staten Island.
Now that he's said to be out of the governor's race, Republican Rudy Giuliani must decide whether to challenge Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand - a prospect that carries its own special drama and risk.
This is the same U.S. Senate seat he was pursuing 10 years ago against Democrat Hillary Clinton, before dropping out due to prostate cancer. He's 65 and has been out of public office since 2001.
His deliberations have been opaque and to some fellow GOPers, quite tedious. Word of his passing on the governor's race wasn't announced but leaked out. For weeks, top state Republicans have been urging him to consider the Senate instead.
Money may be a factor in the decision. Giuliani is said to be doing well in a successful law practice.
Like other former presidential candidates, he also has a political committee with leftover debt. As of Oct. 15, the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee Inc. reported $1,731,410 in debts and obligations. He contributed $700,000 of his own this year, according to federal election filings. Among those owed: Giuliani Partners, $59,290 for rent, and Giuliani Security and Safety LLC, $141,643,70.
Whatever the fundraising picture, there are clear upsides to another Senate run for the man Oprah called "America's mayor." He could have a role in the relished spotlight. He could parlay a win in a blue state into a chance to run for president again in 2012. He could prove wrong those who believe his relevance has come and gone.
"He might just be able do to that," said a Democrat political activist who asked not to be named. "[President Barack] Obama will be having problems. He can make a case for the need to balance [Sen.] Chuck Schumer. What's Gillibrand ever done? He can say he turned around the city."
And Giuliani has his supporters in denouncing the Obama administration's trial of terror suspects in New York.
Then there are the downsides.
If Giuliani runs and loses to Gillibrand - a rookie upstater appointed by Gov. David A. Paterson to replace Clinton - his next gig could be as, oh, the political equivalent of a Las Vegas warm-up act for Wayne Newton.
He polls well against Gillibrand. But he also polled well before his 2008 GOP primary collapse. "Rudy Giuliani will bring to a Senate or governor's race more of the same energy, excitement and credibility he brought to the presidential campaign," cracked skeptical Democratic strategist Robert Zimmerman of Nassau County.
Even Jonathan Tasini, a declared underdog Democratic primary candidate, says: "I'd look forward to facing any Republican in the general election because I'm confident the Democrats will win that seat."
This week the Democratic National Committee condemned Giuliani as a flip-flopper on the terror trials based on his previous pronouncements. And 10 days ago, ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik - his longtime friend, aide and business partner - was released on bail following a guilty plea to eight felonies that included tax fraud and lying to White House officials. Kerik is expected to be sentenced Feb. 18 to 27 to 33 months in prison.
Today's scandal can be tomorrow's Senate fodder.
