Just Not Serious

Somehow, Rudy Giuliani has been able to run as a national security and foreign policy guy - simply because he handled being the Mayor of NYC on 9/11 incredibly well. (Which he did.) But the guy barely wants to talk about Iraq, let alone propose solutions.

Turns out this is not exactly new behavior.

Giuliani, it seems, was originally appointed to the Iraq Study Group (you remember, the document everyone said would change Bush's approach, but he ignored until - perhaps - recently.) I would think that a serious presidential candidate would relish this not just becuase it could enable real change, but from a political perspective as well. That's some actual experience, some relevant "chops" to discuss in debates, etc.

Well...Rudy didn't really ever show up. So he got left (or, got kicked off) the team.

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

He cited "previous time commitments" in a letter explaining his decision to quit, and a look at his schedule suggests why -- the sessions at times conflicted with Giuliani's lucrative speaking tour that garnered him $11.4 million in 14 months.

Giuliani failed to show up for a pair of two-day sessions that occurred during his tenure, the sources said -- and both times, they conflicted with paid public appearances shown on his recent financial disclosure. Giuliani quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.

Folks who lived through Rudy's term as mayor before 9/11 say that he was mocked as being power hungry, not very serious and uninterested in the details of how to be an effective leader.

That sounds painfully familiar.

I'd love there to be a socially liberal Republican candidate, but I'd prefer one who actually can effectively govern.

Let's hope this country doesn't fall for this charade again.