Giuliani's drag story could ruffle right wing
BY CRAIG GORDON
craig.gordon@newsday.com
newsday.com
WASHINGTON -- Rudolph Giuliani's own campaign once called it the "weirdness factor."
In 1993, aides fretted that voters would look askance at him for his 14-year marriage to his second cousin, later annulled.
Then last week, the latest Mrs. Giuliani injected a twist into his White House campaign, with revelations of a "secret" third husband.
For longtime Giuliani-watchers, it was just a fresh chapter in the long-running Rudy drama -- the kind of made-for-tabloids story that left his aides scrambling and people scratching their heads about his would-be first lady Judith Nathan Giuliani. But the story pointed up a fear among some Republicans as Giuliani sits in the frontrunner's spot: that the ex-mayor's personal and political foibles, mostly shrugged off at home, won't wear well nationally, because voters want to see their candidate as commander-in-chief material and not tabloid fodder.
"There are people who if they support Rudy, they'll be keeping their fingers tightly crossed that there's no other embarrassing episode in the media. They've got a lot on the line here," said one Republican familiar with Giuliani's hunt for GOP endorsements.
Supporters say judge him on his accomplishments, not his personal life. They say his two splits and three marriages haven't dented his 9/11-forged persona, or his standing atop the polls.
"Six months ago, I would have thought that would be a problem," said Giuliani's New York co-chairman Guy Molinari. "But it's because of his position on terrorism. Everybody in this country is concerned."
As the campaign shifts from fundraising stops to retail campaigning and debates, Giuliani will face questions not only about social positions that are out of step with some Republicans but about his more personal issues.
He already has faced stories about his estrangement from his son Andrew, who has said he grew apart from his father after the bitter divorce with his mother, Donna Hanover.
And while calling for a decrease in U.S. dependence on foreign oil, Giuliani has defended his law firm's ties to Citgo Petroleum, controlled by anti-American Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and refused to release his million-dollar client list.
Back at home, the Giuliani files are replete with moments of unconventional political behavior -- and at times, a willingness to challenge the norms of what a politician can do.
It's not just his battles with the minority community, brusque style or strong-arm approach to problems. There are the off-key moments, like launching a court battle to stop something many a politician would have simply laughed off -- a mild joke at his expense in ads on city buses.
During his 2000 Senate race, he skipped events in upstate New York -- to attend a Yankees game. He later dropped out.
Perhaps his most famous there-goes-Rudy moments came in womens' clothing, such as a 1997 appearance as Rudia, where he sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" as Marilyn Monroe once did, complete with a pink gown, high heels and blonde wig. Those rather un-presidential-looking shots are making the rounds among conservatives in South Carolina.
But it was his very public split with Hanover in 2000 that created a string of difficult moments. He used a news conference to inform his second wife of their separation. He also publicly squired his "very good friend" Nathan while married to Hanover.
In 2001, Giuliani authorized his lawyer to reveal that prostate cancer treatment had left him impotent -- and therefore unable to have sexual relations with Nathan. In recent interviews, Nathan has spoken suggestively about their relationship, calling him the "Energizer Bunny" and posing in a deep kiss with him.
Giuliani has said he's human and that he tried to learn from past mistakes. Supporters insist he's different now, after 9/11, and, so far, his opponents have been holding their fire.
But "if there's a slow drip of news stories over the next 10 months about Rudy Giuliani's personal life, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to be the Republican nominee," said independent political analyst Nathan Gonzales. "In my mind, that means the national discussion is not working in his favor, because it's not about national security or leadership."
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