Surprise! Via TPM, this:

Sheriff Richard Stanek was appointed to the post of chair of Minnesota Law Enforcement for Rudy. The campaign’s press release promised that Stanek “will work with law enforcement personnel throughout the state to communicate Mayor Giuliani’s record of fighting crime and his commitment to first responders.”

But as a rival campaign has pointed out to us, it turns out Stanek has admitted to having a history of racially charged remarks. He was forced to resign his post as Minnesota’s public safety commissioner in 2004 after it came to light that he’d admitted in a deposition that he’d used racist slurs in the past, including repeated use of the word “nigger.”

OK, so he’s qualified. And?  Read more 

Novak writes today:

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Giuliani has stubbornly held on to first place in national surveys of Republican voters. His elevated status cannot be written off as merely superior name identification. He no longer seems uncomfortable as a Republican and clearly dominated last week’s presidential debate in Dearborn, Mich. The real possibility that Giuliani might be the Republican nominee led a group of religious conservatives, who met in Salt Lake City on Sept. 29 under the leadership of James C. Dobson of Focus on the Family, to consider a third-party alternative.

But the situation is not a simple confrontation between the Christian right and Giuliani. The Gallup data suggest that Dobson and the Salt Lake City group may be out of touch with rank-and-file churchgoers. A well-known social conservative, who asked that his name not be used, is disturbed by Dobson’s statement he could not vote for Giuliani under any circumstances. Instead of being considered the lesser of two evils in a possible race against Sen. Hillary Clinton, Giuliani seems to be the positive choice of millions of religious Americans.

Yeah, well, the conventional wisdom as generated and propagated by the Village in which Novak is happily ensconced is always slow and wrong, which is why we read Glenn Greenwald, who called his shot on Tooliani months ago.

Greenwald wrote back in February:  Read more 

Remember the latest Republican election scam? The one where they were going to hold a referendum to eliminate winner-take-all in California only, so whichever districts were still voting for Kool-Aid would throw the election to a Republican in the electoral college?* Turns out the winger billionaire who was secretly funding the scam was a Giuliani suporter! LA Times:

A confidant of Republican presidential contender Rudolph W. Giuliani, and one of the candidate’s biggest donors, was the source of a mystery $175,009.11** donation to a stalled initiative proposal seen as an attempt to help the GOP win a portion of California’s 55 electoral votes.

New York hedge fund billionaire Paul E. Singer issued a statement Friday acknowledging that he gave the six-figure gift, ending speculation over its secrecy and fanning criticism of the Giuliani campaign.

Giuliani said he knew nothing about it, and his spokeswoman, Maria Comella, called the contribution “completely independent from our campaign.”

Of course, of course.

But here’s the weird thing:  Read more 

It’s all out in the open, now, isn’t it? No more Atwater-style coded language. No more dog whistles. WaPo:

Such were the scheduling conflicts that left the lecterns for the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination empty at what was billed as the first GOP debate tailored to the concerns of black voters, held last night at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Forced pregnancy loon Brownback showed up, as did the much more dangerous Huckabee (they’ll never nominate him, fortunately).

But Tooliani? Willard? Poor old John McCain? Much too busy doing something that is far more important them than black voters:  Read more 

The Right-wing pundits sure know how to pour gas onto their own funeral pyre:

Of course, the big difference is that the Democrats don’t have a Ronald Reagan to take advantage of the situation. Nobody will ever confuse Hilliary’s (sic) shrill denunciations with the twinkle in the Gipper’s eye when he zinged an opponent. Nor will anyone fail to see the difference between the inspirational yet empty platitudes of Obama with Reagan’s soaring rhetoric that touched something so American in people’s souls.  Read more 

And no wonder… Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. I’m sure it’s highly legitimate, especially for a man as secure with his sexuality as Rudy obviously is. The New York Daily News:

Being Mrs. Rudy Giuliani can’t be easy, but at least it pays well - about $10,000 a month.

A day after the former mayor disclosed in federal filings that he considers his third wife, Judith, a salaried employee, sources said he has paid her about $125,000 a year for speechwriting help - since before they were married.

“Speech writing.” Right, then.  Read more 

Yep, Rudy’s a liberal [snicker]. Well, aside from being an authoritarian narcissist, which makes him a perfect Leader for the base, that is. But yes, Rudy’s taken some liberal positions over the years, as this new site shows:

Mr. Giuliani and his aides say there is no reason to be surprised by his embrace of the Gay Games. “This is a major sporting event that New York City is proud and happy to have,” said Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter, who has been the administration’s chief liaison with the organizers. “This is exactly the kind of event the Mayor of New York is always going to participate in.” (New York Times, June 18, 1994)

Oh, come on, people. Minds like sewers, all of you. I didn’t mean “positions” that way!  Read more 

(Quote from long NPR segment on why it will be tough for a woman to become President. The clothes, the makeup… )

So, Rudy Giuliani can’t win?  Read more