So Soon?

The International Association of Fire Fighters' video about Rudy Giuliani's tenure in New York City and his disrespect of firefighters, Rudy Giuliani: Urban Legend, was released on the Internet yesterday, and it's pretty devastating.



I'm not sure why this would start off with a union boss' comments instead of the firefighters themselves (even though the IAFF is a fairly nonpartisan union), and I really don't understand why this is coming out now, 5 months before the first votes in Iowa and 16 months before the general election. The Swift Boat campaign against John Kerry filled a news gap in August of 2004, very close to the Presidential cycle, and its momentum, driven by the press, carried through to Election Day. There's no way you can achieve that 16 months out. I respect the firefighters union for trying to educate the public about Rudy's record (his lying to the 9/11 Commission and blaming the firefighters for ignoring the evacuation order, when they never got it, is particularly despicable). They should have waited, though, for maximum impact. Although, there is I suppose a merit to defining him early. I mean, if this becomes the measure of Rudy, it's something:

"Rudy has used the horrible events of September 11 to create a persona that is an elaborate fabrication," says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. "He is nothing more than a shameless self-promoter."

The fact that a Rudy Presidency would essentially be a third Bush term, with the likes of Norman Podhoretz arguing and praying for the bombing of Iran from inside the White House, is also a significant frame that I'd like to see explored.