The Lush Farm Fields of Staten Island

(cross-posted at The Right's Field)

Rudy Giuliani visited Iowa last week, and he found a way to connect with the rural residents: by talking down to them and making laughably false comparisons.

“You’ve been out here in the country where there are no roads,” said Betty Schuler, a farmer who drove 30 miles with her husband, Kenneth, to see Mr. Giuliani. “When you get back to the big city, are you going to forget the little guys out here who are farming to feed you?”

“Oh, I’m not going to forget the little guy anywhere,” Mr. Giuliani assured Mrs. Schuler. “When I got elected mayor of New York City, I didn’t forget anybody. The place that kind of won the election for me was Staten Island. It’s the closest thing that New York City has to — I wouldn’t call it rural, but suburbs.”

He paused as these seven Iowa voters looked quizzically at the famous guest in their midst.

He mentioned Staten Island over and over again.

Yeah, I remember driving through the rolling hills of Staten Island, looking out at the crops of wheat and corn and grain, seeing the families wake up at 5am to do the chores and milk the cows.

In 1763.

UPDATE: It's now official - Rudy can more credibly say that he's a New York Yankee than a 9/11 rescue worker. And he's taking on the biggest disaster of the Bush Administration domestic policy as a signature issue of his campaign.

I'm fascinated by Giuliani's run for the White House. It's almost entirely nuts. It's like a Dadaist campaign.