In an effort to test the waters, Giuliani has been meeting with Republican leaders and even convinced the state's Republican Party chairman Joseph N. Mondello to resign so that his friend, Henry F. Wojtaszek, can take the position. In addition, Giuliani held a meeting with leaders in Buffalo and told them that he will decide his fate over the course of the next 30-60 days. It shouldn't take that long.

There's very little chance that current Governor David Paterson will run, because only 32% of New York voters view him in a favorable light. And, more importantly, he's trailing 65-23% when pitted against his most-likely challenger, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. It's unlikely the state's Democratic party would pick Paterson over Cuomo. It's just common sense. So, let's assume Cuomo runs... Giuliani's people insist he's not thinking about the competition, but you know that's just talk. How could he not be eyeing Cuomo, who's approval ratings are sky high: 67% of Empire State residents gave him the thumbs up at the end of June, only a slight dip from his personal high of 71% in March.

Even if Giuliani's not worried about current polls, he should remember the presidential primary. In January of last year, about 40% of New Yorkers said they would likely vote for John McCain, Giuliani's then-rival. That's not very inspiring for Giuliani, who liked to highlight his post-9/11 leadership abilities, which inspired his ridiculous "America's Mayor" projection.

As if that's not enough, there's another Cuomo-related hurdle: the Clintons. Cuomo worked as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Then, during last year's primaries, Cuomo was a voracious Hillary Clinton supporter.

The Clintons remember their friends (and their enemies), so we're assuming the power couple would throw their weight behind Cuomo. Yes, Giuliani has become tight with Sarah Palin, but even the former Alaska Governor is no match for the Clinton machine. And that machine which will no doubt be handy when it comes to raising campaign for Cuomo, who as of last month had $5.1 million on hand.

Giuliani would be much better off remaining in the private sector, where he can lord over his two companies — both of which he would have to abandon should he choose to run — and make thousands giving motivational and policy speeches. Of course, this is politics and things could change at any moment, especially if Giuliani asks current NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg to be his running mate, as many believe he will.

Still, we're not convinced Giuliani should run. But he probably will, because he's a cocky kind of guy and if he's delusional enough to think he could be president, he's absolutely convinced the Governor's mansion has his name on it.

Remember how Rudy's been married three times, and how each time he's gotten divorced it was because he was already seeing his next wife romantically? Mika doesn't!

While talking about the politics of extramarital affairs, Mika just let Rudy talk about Bill Clinton instead of, like, asking him about his own extramarital affairs.

Giuliani "Let's look at Bill Clinton."

Brzezinski: "Yeah."

It might very well be true that Republicans who sleep around face a bigger shitstorm than Democrats. Though, you know, Clinton was impeached and John Edwards is universally reviled and Eliot Spitzer resigned right away. And John McCain and Newt Gingrich and apparently even Rudy Giuliani get to appear on TV without anyone bringing their messes up. But maybe sometimes, in the media, the Democrats are not castigated as much? It is hard to prove this either way, beyond just basing it on a gut feeling, as Mika does.

But Mark Sanford himself identified why this might be the case, back in 1998, when he was complaining that no one wanted to impeach Bill Clinton anymore:

"In politics you can get away with anything as long as it's what's expected," says Representative Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina. "If people expect you to be a rascal, you can be a rascal. That he is a rascal has been discounted. But he is also an engaging personality - and things can't get better than this in the economy."

"If people expect you to be a rascal, you can be a rascal." And maybe the party of conservative Christian family values is held to a higher standard because they hold everyone else to a higher standard! And also maybe it is just funnier when one of those guys is caught doing this than when some godless liberal secularist is! These are all pretty simple concepts.

[Photo: AP]

Panelists Question Giuliani's Effect on Drop in Crime [NYS]

While ostensibly an article about how Giuliani is playing out in the sticks (surprisingly well), the piece is more or less a lengthy biography of America's mayor. For those of us who endured his tenure, there's not a lot to learn here, but to a national audience that may be unfamiliar with Giuliani, this should probably be required reading. (It is nowhere near as vital as last week's Village Voice cover story on Giuliani, which is a devastating indictment of the mayor's mendacity concerning 9/11, but it is also nowhere near as boring: That story should have been edited down to five bullet points and distributed to every news organization in the country.) What's odd, though, is the way the article actually had us sympathizing with Giuliani for a few moments, particularly when it comes to his upbringing.

The well-worn tale of his Yankees fandom is trotted out once again:

Over the years, Giuliani has often spoken of his childhood in Brooklyn, giving special place to a story about the discordance of growing up a Yankees fan in the shadow of Ebbets Field. His father, Harold, a Yankees partisan from East Harlem, once dressed young Rudy in Yankee pinstripes and sent him out to play in the Dodger-mad streets of Brooklyn. Too young to have any say in the matter, Rudy was set upon by the neighborhood toughs, Dodger fans all. A gang of boys seized him, placed a noose around his neck, and threatened to lynch him. (His grandmother intervened.) In one recounting, to John Tierney, of the Times, a dozen years ago, Giuliani said that the incident was his proudest moment, because he refused to renounce his team. "I kept telling them: 'I am a Yankee fan. I am a Yankee fan. I'm gonna stay a Yankee fan,' " he recounted. "To me it was like being a martyr: I'm not gonna give up my religion. You're not gonna change me."

One of Rudy's high-school teachers, Jack O'Leary, remembers being struck by Harold's interest in his son's discipline. Bishop Loughlin High was run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, stern-looking men in black robes. One morning, O'Leary—who was known as Brother Kevin—went up to Rudy, who was gabbing with a classmate, and cuffed him on the ear. At the school's annual open house, Harold sought out O'Leary and thanked him for thumping his kid if he'd had it coming.

O'Leary became a family friend and had a lasting influence on Rudy. He encouraged the boy's interest in reading and nurtured his love of opera, helping Rudy form the school's first opera club. O'Leary sometimes visited the Giulianis at home, and Rudy would excitedly greet his teacher and rush him down to the basement, where he kept a phonograph and opera records. Harold, too, formed a personal bond with O'Leary, which eventually took on an aspect of the confessional. "I think it was because I was wearing the robe, or religious habit," O'Leary recalls. "Now, I wasn't a priest—a brother is not a priest. But Harold called me very, very frequently. And I think a big reason was because I was a brother, and he felt that he could confide in me, a religious figure." In his conversations with O'Leary, Harold spoke of his past, and of his troubles before he was married. "But he told me that that was behind him, and how sorry he was," O'Leary says.

So, yes: It's hard not to feel sympathy for Giuliani, a shy, bookish child desperate for the love of a father whose own version of love was to treat him strictly so that he might not make the same mistakes. One can almost picture the eleven-year-old mayor, excited about opera and longing for the approval of a tough, distant parent and any other strong male authority figure he encountered.

And then you come across something like this:

His personality only sharpened the edges of his policies, leaving an impression, broadly felt, that was summed up by former Mayor Ed Koch in the title of a 1999 book: "Giuliani, Nasty Man." When a caller complained on Giuliani's radio show that her son—a robbery suspect—had been shot dead by the New York Police Department, he answered, "Maybe you should ask yourself some questions about the way he was brought up."

Mayberry Man [NYer]

Ladies and gentlemen, I know that many of you disagree with my position on abortion. And my mixed signals on gay marriage. Or gun control. And I understand that it looks a little funny that pretty much everyone so many of my associates, from Bernie Kerik to the cocaine-dealing campaign aide to that molesty priest have engaged in criminal activities. The cross-dressing thing probably doesn't put your mind at ease. And the fact that I've been married three times, once to my cousin, well, even I find that a little creepy. But you know what? 9/11. Also: Firemen! Flags! Kittens with firemen! God bless America.

Giuliani Will Strive To Woo Christian Conservatives [NYS]

The priest of the Manhattan church where Rudy Giuliani had his second wedding says he would deny the presidential contender Holy Communion because of his public support for abortion.

I'd deny Communion to Rudy, says priest [NYDN]

• Wop-bop-a-loo-bob, ba-wop-bam-boom! Here's some cash!
  
• How'd your day go, dago? If you're Rudy Giuliani, pretty well!
  
• That's a spicy meatball. Meatball of money.
  
• Rudy Giuliani woke up this morning and he got himself a ton. Of money!
  
• Ba-da-BING! Big wop gets big haul!
  
• Leave the gun. Take the FEC's legal limit of $2300 per individual to donate to the Giuliani campaign. —balk

  ETHNIC PRIDE BOO$TS PAISAN RUDY [NYP]
  Previously: Rewriting The 'Daily News': Chocolate Jesus