IS THIS A GOOD IDEA? – AT 10:49 A.M. ET:  Rudy Giuliani is toying with the idea of making another run for the presidency, having failed to come close to getting the GOP nomination in 2008.  But is it a good idea?  From The Politico:

Rudy Giuliani called for a return to American exceptionalism Friday, telling a group of GOP lawyers gathered in the nation’s capital that Ronald Reagan fundamentally changed how Americans felt about themselves.

Before Reagan was elected, Giuliani said, much had been written about America’s decline and how it was a country of “limited possibilities” that had run its course.

“Sounds familiar, right? There are people who believe that today in America. In fact, some of them are running America,” Giuliani said in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association, where he appeared to received the group’s highest honor, the Ed Meese Award.

“The idea that we’re either no better than anyone else, we’re just another country with our set of problems or our set of assets, or maybe we’re not even as good as others. Ronald Reagan found that to be totally wrong, not a correct view of this country and he changed in a very short period of times how we felt about ourselves.”

“That’s the most important thing a leader does,” he added.

And...

Giuliani took only one question following his half-hour speech. Asked whether he had decided to launch a 2012 White House bid, he said “not yet,” but that it’s a possibility.

“I will sure think about it. … It’s too early and I want to see how it all develops,” he answered. “My major goal is to elect a Republican in 2012. If it turns out that I’m the best one to do that, I can probably be talked into doing it or convince myself to do it,” he said.

“If I thought somebody else had a better chance of doing it, I would be a very enthusiastic supporter of somebody else,” he added.

COMMENT:   Rudy was one of the great mayors of New York.  It may be an exaggeration to say that he saved the city, but not much of one.  He confronted crime head-on and reduced it dramatically, with common sense and zero tolerance for political correctness. 

The problem is that Rudy just didn't catch on in 2008, when he was out of power for about six years.  Now it's more than nine years.   He has about him the aura of a local leader, not a president.  And the spectacular way in which he led New York through 9-11 is a fading memory.  I just don't see a Giuliani candidacy doing any better in 2012 than in 2008, but, of course, I could be wrong.

May 7, 2011