Just in time for costume companies to start remaking those scary Mask-like rubber Rudy heads for Halloween, Team Giuliani says the former New York City mayor will publicly decide whether to run for governor. His aides say his decision will come in under two months, and will not be influenced by his opponent — be it the vastly unpopular incumbent David Paterson, or the popular but as-yet-unsure Andrew Cuomo. But the longer Rudy wavers, the more nervous state Democrats will begin pushing for Cuomo. The Times reports that he’s been traveling all around the state meeting with Republican leaders and testing the waters. Friends say he seems genuinely unsure of what to do. Running for office again would hurt his businesses, the law firm Bracewell & Giuliani and the consulting firm Giuliani Partners, and would prevent him from accepting lucrative speaking engagements, which earn him hundreds of thousands a year. On the flip side, Rudy does love playing the rescuing hero. In June, he published his solution for Albany’s problems in the Times, and earlier this month, he admitted during a speech that if the state continues to deteriorate, he’ll be more likely to run. “If I thought that I could make a real difference in the state, really change things and it really needed me,” he said at a breakfast sponsored by Crain’s New York, “Then I probably would do it.” Listen up, Republicans. All you need to do to get Rudy on the ticket is to make him feel good about himself. And surely that can’t be too difficult.
