Via Kevin Drum, I found this Times article describing the fast and lose way Giuliani is playing with statistics in his speeches and advertising campaigns. It debunks a number of his most commonly used statistical claims, some relatively minor but others quite significant. Worth a quick read just for that insight.
I’d rather draw your attention to a telling statement by Ramesh Ponnuru buried in the piece:
Ramesh Ponnuru, a senior editor at National Review magazine, said Mr. Giuliani’s plan “may be the best of the Republican health care plans.”
“The trouble is that the exact statistic he used was misleading,” Mr. Ponnuru said in a recent interview, elaborating on a blog post he wrote. “It became an argument about the statistics, and he dug in and defended it when he was wrong.”
That’s exactly the problem. He shares Bush’s inability to admit when he’s wrong, and like Bush and Cheney, will dig in and attack, attack, attack when he’s given evidence of his errors. It’s like having Bill O’Reilly as a candidate. Incompetence and stubbornness are a bad combination. Just look at President Bush.
This isn’t just an isolated incident, but a pattern with Rudy. Now that an honest-to-goodness scandal is brewing around him, one that Rudy insists is a non-issue, this is how he’s behaving:
Giuliani, who is normally friendly to reporters, bristled past them, and campaign staffers were unusually physical in keeping the press away. Several campaign aides told campaign reporters to return to the press area, and some of his security detail manhandled reporters. On other occasions, reporters have been free to video Giuliani as he is shaking hands and signing autographs after events, and he often informally takes questions from reporters.
Our current President hides from protestors. With a Rudy presidency, we could have the second coming of J Edgar Hoover’s secret files or COINTELPRO.
