Project Rudy

I met Rudy Giuliani last week at The Spirit of Hope Benefit, an event promoting tolerance, justice, and human rights. After an introduction from mistress of ceremonies Irshad Manji and an appearance by the Hallelujah Drummers, Giuliani took centre stage for more than an hour. In mobster-like voice and smiling eyes, he took a hard line on terror, making his point loud and clear: Terrorism must be confronted early on. Only when Bush went on the offense, he said, attacking terrorism head-on by whatever means necessary, did the world become a safer place. We must brave our demons, not ignore them, if we want to defeat them. Hmmm. Maybe I'll quit smoking, I thought. The only time he mentioned politics was at his press conference earlier in the day. "I would like to enter the political arena someday," was all he said. A meager response to a recent Marist College survey that found not only that 27 per cent of Repulicans would support him in a run for presidency and 71 per cent would like to see him in the running, but that 49 per cent of voters nationwide would like to see him run in 2008. My favourite part of his speech that night? Counting how many times he said "like." I stopped keeping track at 15, fearing I may die of a bad case of the giggles.