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Rudy, Republicans hammer at Obama's experience

BY DAN JANISON | dan.janison@newsday.com

August 28, 2008

DENVER - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared a few miles from the convention hall where Barack Obama was to be nominated and cited past statements from Giuliani's twice would-be rival Hillary Rodham Clinton to make his case for Sen. John McCain.

Reacting to her Obama speech Tuesday night, Giuliani said: "I thought it was a very good speech for her. I thought it was a very good speech for us. I did not think it was a very good speech for Obama because ... what we don't know is that she thinks he's prepared to be commander in chief, because she said she doesn't."

When asked, Giuliani said he has not received a call from McCain regarding the vice presidency.

Giuliani's effort to counter the unity message inside the Pepsi Center, one week before the Republicans convene themselves in St. Paul, Minn., echoes a similar message carried by Mitt Romney, another primary candidate, in a news conference on Tuesday.

The former mayor, who had been running in 2000 against Clinton for the Senate when illness forced him to withdraw - and who attacked Clinton repeatedly, especially on economics, during his failed primary bid - was part of a Republican trio who sought to depict Obama as naive on foreign policy.

The others were Lt. Gov. Michael Steele of Maryland and former U.S. Treasurer Rosario Marin. She explained she cannot run for vice president since she was not born in the United States. Steele, asked after the news conference if he could become the GOP's first African-American candidate for vice president, said with a smile, "You'd have to take that up with Senator McCain."

The theme of the McCain message squad is "Not Ready '08," focused on the contention that Obama is unprepared to lead the United States.