It’s a pivotal moment in the 2008 race: The day voters get to see Giuliani’s ferrety smile in a softly lit close-up. That’s right, the Republican front-runner finally answered the public clamoring for more multimedia Rudy and premiered his first TV campaign spot, which will begin running today in New Hampshire. The ad goes straight to Giuliani’s credentials: eight years running New York City, “the third- or fourth-largest government in the country.” (About that “third or fourth” thing — they couldn’t look it up?) As we know, whenever Giuliani mentions his hometown, he’s forced to perform a complicated two-step of praising it and dumping on it at the same time; this time he does it with, um, pictures.
We’ll let the Times describe the ad in its inimitable deadpan:
As Mr. Giuliani describes the condition of the city when he became mayor, black-and-white scenes appear: the decrepit marquee of a movie house and the words “Sex World,” helmeted riot police advancing toward a crowd. Then as Mr. Giuliani talks about his performance as mayor, the music swells and the screen fills with colorful scenes: children raising a flag; a couple gazing at the city from a rooftop.
In other words, from Gomorrah to Mayberry in eight easy years. The one shocking thing about the spot, of course, is that it doesn’t mention 9/11 even once. Which naturally makes everyone who writes about it today … mention 9/11. Son of a bitch! —Michael Idov
Giuliani Ties New Job Hopes to Old [NYT]
