GLIMMER OF HOPE FOR GIULIANI? WELL, HE WILL PROBABLY-- FINALLY-- BEAT RON PAUL

Not a ray, not a glimmer

Adam Nagourney detects a ray of hope for the surely doomed Giuliani campaign (and bungled strategy) when he looks at the tidal wave of early voting in Florida. "Three days before the polls are to open here, the number of Democrats who have voted here has already exceeded the turnout in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada... There has also been a flood of early ballots from Republican voters which has, again, already exceeded the turnout in the contests in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. As of Friday night, nearly 400,000 party Republicans had cast early votes, either in person or by mail, party officials reported. By contrast, just under 200,000 Republicans had voted in person or by mail at this point in 2006, when there was a heavily contested Republican primary for governor."

He thinks that could save Giuliani. He's incorrect; virtually nothing can save Giuliani, especially after Governor Charlie Crist went back on his word to Giuliani and endorsed McCain. He's a fatally flawed candidate and no one likes him-- especially not for the presidency. Nagourney says that Giuliani's strategy of getting his supporters to vote early-- before he was beaten to a bloody pulp in pre-Florida primaries and caucuses (scoring considerably less than Ron Paul)-- would be the answer to questions about his viability. His viability is bad enough so that he's polling a distant 4th or 5th among the nearly 4 million registered Republicans in the state. He has a shot to beat Huckabee; that's it. But he has a lot more to contend with than just his perceived lack of viability.

Perhaps Nagourney missed today's Newsday: Not good for Giuliani: 25 Ex-NY prosecutors bash him. So it's not just the New York firefighters he claims to have led into the defining moment of his miserable career, but also the prosecutors-- the other group he claims to have led. Come on; even Republibots have to scratch their heads and wonder what's wrong.

Rudy Giuliani is struggling to get some momentum going in Florida, and now he has another headache-- a letter issued by 25 former New York prosecutors bashing his record as U.S. Attorney in the southern district of New York.

The statement is sent out by Michael Armstrong, a well-known former SD [Southern District] prosecutor and counsel to the Knapp Commission-- and, it should be noted, defense lawyer for Lowell Milken, brother of Drexel Burnham titan Michael, who was pursued by Rudy to the tune of much enmity. The list of signers includes some other ex-prosecutor defense lawyers who faced off against Rudy.

The letter begins:

"Rudolph Giuliani has claimed that he was the best of those who have held the prestigious office of United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.... We are former prosecutors from the New York area, most of whom served in the United States Attorney’s Office. We are familiar with what goes on in New York law enforcement. We challenge Giuliani’s assessment of himself."

It accuses Rudy of using a variety of questionable tactics, including grand jury leaks, and of exagerrating his accomplishments:

"In the current presidential campaign, Giuliani presents an inflated and sometimes seriously inaccurate picture of his achievements as a federal prosecutor.... Under Giuliani, an unusual number of high profile cases began with skillfully manipulated fanfare, but ended in dismissals, acquittals or reversals."

And: "Giuliani’s performance as United States Attorney simply does not match his claims. In fact, we believe that the pattern of improper leaks to the media, excessive use of publicity, and other inappropriate conduct that he engaged in while serving as United States Attorney, together with the disingenuous way in which he now describes his service, casts doubt, generally, on Giuliani’s credibility and judgment."

Even Republican need to look closely-- because if this is the best they can do, they're in even worse shape than Peggy Noonan thinks Bush has put them in.