By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press
December 23, 2004
WASHINGTON -- Until two weeks ago, Rudolph Giuliani was having a great year.
The former mayor and Sept. 11 icon starred
in prime time at the Republican National Convention, polished his image as a
successful business leader and maneuvered himself into the lineup of early
contenders for the White House in 2008.
Then, the spectacular flame-out of a top
deputy singed Giuliani's bright political future.
The failed federal nomination of Bernard
Kerik, who quit Giuliani's firm Wednesday, has left many wondering whether
Kerik's mess will stick to Giuliani.
Long-time Giuliani booster Guy Molinari,
the former Staten Island borough president, said Giuliani will likely face
questions about his association with Kerik.
"Clearly, he was making a lot of headway
up until the Kerik incident," said Molinari. "His timetable has changed now, and
he has to shore up his support pretty quickly."
It would have been better for Giuliani,
Molinari said, if Kerik had resigned days earlier.
The former New York City police
commissioner was nominated by President Bush earlier this month to lead the
Department of Homeland Security. He hurriedly withdrew his name Dec. 10, saying
he had not paid all the taxes for a nanny and that the woman may have been an
illegal immigrant.
Since then, other revelations have
followed, creating an almost operatic chorus of questions about Kerik's behavior
and, by inference, Giuliani's judgment in promoting him.
Mike Paul, a former Giuliani
aide who now runs his own consulting firm, said the Kerik affair revealed both
Giuliani's strength and weakness as a public figure.
"The buck stops with
Rudy," said Paul. "If you had to give the mayor an Achilles heel, it is choosing
loyalty over expertise."
Before Kerik resigned from Giuliani
Partners, the former mayor had said the issue would be one of many weighed by
voters if he chooses to run for office. At a press conference Wednesday, he said
he wasn't worried about any political fallout. A spokeswoman for Giuliani did
not immediately comment for this article.
Kerik's lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said he
did not believe Giuliani's future would suffer for Kerik's past.
"Political memory being what it is, four
months is a very long time, let alone four years. I don't think there will be
any effect," said Tacopina.
Some political figures in critical states
for early presidential politicking said the Kerik scandal may be the least of
Giuliani's problems when it comes to facing off against fellow Republicans in
the heartland.
Within the Iowa GOP, the Kerik controversy
still runs a distant second to questions about Giuliani's positions on social
issues.
"I don't think most people here really
relate Kerik with Giuliani, though he was his police commissioner," said Phyllis
Kelly, a Republican National Committeewoman from Iowa.
Political science professor David Redlawsk
of the University of Iowa said the Kerik problems may not matter because many
GOP voters there dislike Giuliani's support for abortion rights, gun control,
and gay rights.
"His positions on Republican issues are
far from most Iowa Republicans. He doesn't fit what's mainstream for the
Republican party in Iowa. I think the Kerik thing is relatively unimportant for
exactly that reason," said Redlawsk.
Giuliani may already be getting some
indication of what the impact has been, at least in New York circles. His
political action committee recently sent out invitations to a late January
fundraiser.
Associated
Press Writer Timothy Williams in New York contributed to this
report.
