Rudy's plans for a White House run

The NY Daily News got a copy of Rudy's campaign plan from someone who works for his potential rivals and published some tidbits. The most remarkable thing about the document is how unremarkable it is. Rudy has been collecting chits for five years as he campaigned around the country for Republicans. So the fact that he is giving serious thought to running is entirely unsurprising.

Nor are his list of concerns about his personal life and his positions on social issues any surprise. Most of the personal issues wre trotted out during his senate campaign against Clinton.

What Guiliani has going for him is a level of trust on the important issue of national security. That is something that none of his Democrat opponents can count on. Some Democrats are chortling over the disclosure of the campaign plan. I am glad to hear he has one is and si prepared to deal with the issues that may be thrown his way.

If he gets the nomination, I see no reason not to enthusiastically support him. Go for it Rudy.

Update: The NY Times reports that the Guiliani camp says the plan was stolen.

...

... Sunny Mindel, said yesterday that the document belonged to a staff member and did not reflect official strategy, but “simply someone’s ideas which were committed to paper over three months ago.” Ms. Mindel said the document was apparently stolen from a piece of luggage during a Giuliani political trip last fall, then photocopied and replaced in the luggage. Ms. Mindel said she did not know if her office would seek a criminal investigation of the alleged theft.

The public disclosure of the document is potentially damaging for Mr. Giuliani, not least because since 9/11, he has built a business as a private consultant on security issues while creating an image as a political leader capable of combating terrorism. Indeed, an adviser to one of his possible rivals in 2008, Senator John McCain of Arizona, half-joked yesterday that it was interesting that Mr. Giuliani’s businesses included security consulting.

“I’m surprised that something like that would ever leave the custody of a campaign, and that such raw and frank information would be around the countryside,” said the McCain adviser, John Weaver. “That said, a lot of the information was predictable.”

...

H,mmm. Interesting who the comments came from and what they focused on, i.e. Rudy's security business. The story goes on to point out that much of the information is dated. The article suggest that the copy was stolen by someone who infiltrated the Guiliani campaign.

The NY Post reports that the document was copied while Guiliani was on a campaign swing for Florida Republican Charles Crist. It was in some baggage that was removed from the plane and not returned until after it was copied according to the Post source.

The bigger embarrassment for Rudy is the security issue than anything that was in the document. However Crist also needs to explain how this occurred on his campaign plane. It was reasonable for Guiliani to believe that people he was helping would not be working for his own defeat. If Crist is going to expect help in the future he needs to get to the bottom of this.