A CONCLUSION AFTER LOOKING AT GIULIANI'S PURLOINED PLANS: THE GUY'S GOT NO CHANCE

And it isn't even because of this, or any of the many other, lovely photos of America's mayor in drag. Nor is it because Giuliani supports a package of social issues that are absolutely anathema to Republican primary voters: gay rights, women's choice, even a relatively tolerant attitude towards unions. But looking at the New York Daily News summary of the 140 page binder of Giuliani campaign plans, leaked by "an opponent" (McCain), one comes to the conclusion that this campaign ain't going nowhere. The detailed fund-raising plans show a campaign that is pretty much D.O.A.

Some of the leading figures in American business and finance appear as the "prospective leadership" of Giuliani's campaign, and their names appear elsewhere with instructions for Giuliani to call and seek their support. Two of the top figures on Giuliani's list, New Jersey mega-fund-raisers Lew Eisenberg and Larry Bathgate, have already signed on with McCain, as has another Giuliani target, FedEx CEO Fred Smith.

In a memo that appears in the dossier, Giuliani aides Dickerson and Roy Bailey urge him to court financier Henry Kravis particularly avidly.

"You need him to be a Wall Street industry leader," the memo says.

McCain announced Kravis' support last month.

The plan also anticipates his recruiting top GOP fund-raiser Cathy Blaney in New York on a retainer of $260,000 and her Florida counterpart, Ann Herberger, at $216,000. But between the plan's preparation in the fall and today, Blaney became the chief fund-raiser for the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, while Herberger reportedly has signed on to the presidential campaign of Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

The News makes it clear that the loss of the plan makes "Mr. Security" look like a doofus and his campaign like the Keystone cops. "The loss of the battle plan is a remarkable breach in the high-stakes game of presidential politics and a potentially disastrous blunder for Giuliani in the early stages of his campaign."

One page details some of the attacks-- $100 million worth, according to the documents-- Giuliani can expect from some of his further right brethren: "his private sector business; disgraced former aide Bernard Kerik; his third wife, Judith Nathan Giuliani; "social issues," on which is he is more liberal than most Republicans, and his former wife Donna Hanover." The mass media wrote off Russ Feingold for a lot less-- divorces + liberal ideas but with none of the corruption and circuses that have defined Giuliani's ill-starred career.


UPDATE: NEW YORK TIMES HAS THE DISH ON GIULIANI, ANOTHER DISHONEST POL

Today's Times has it all: a great comparison between what Giuliani wants people to think about him (the pollyanna drivel he puts on his website) and what he doesn't want anyone to know (the stuff sent to McCain by Florida's closeted gay governor Crist who stole it while Rudy was campaigning for him in Florida).