Rudy's Family Values
I've always thought that it is important to consider the opinions of people who know candidates the best and Rudy Giuliani's son has some insight into Rudy the Man to share with voters:
Rudy Giuliani's son seems to think his dad would make a better President
than he did a father.
"I got my values from my mother," 21-year-old Andrew Giuliani told ABC
in an interview quoted on "Good Morning America" yesterday, the same day the
Daily News spotlighted the rift between the former mayor and his only son.
"She's a strong influence in my life," Andrew Giuliani said of his mother,
Donna Hanover, seemingly drawing a contrast between her and Rudy Giuliani.
"She's a strong woman."Andrew's outspoken comments came after more than a
year of frosty relations between the Duke University student and his father.
Insiders say Giuliani has increasingly chosen to spend time with third wife
Judith Nathan rather than Andrew and daughter Caroline, 18.
Giuliani has missed some of Andrew's big golf tournaments and Caroline's
school productions, sources told The News, even while Judith is constantly by
his side in his presidential campaign."I have problems with my father," Andrew told ABC. "But it doesn't mean he won't make a great President."
While Andrew stressed he still loves his father and said "we are both
working on our relationship," his comments are a sharp reminder of the
outrageous marital soap opera that accompanied Giuliani's estrangement and
divorce from second wife Hanover - which came after he and Nathan made a public
show of their growing love affair.
Let's remember what happened in New York with Guiliani and Hanover, which I think got overshadowed by the Lewinsky scandal. I think this explains what Andrew is feeling.
Rudy carried on an open affair with Nathan, which reached the point where Hanover had to seek a court order to prevent Nathan from being allowed into Gracie Mansion, Hanover's home, as well as Andrew's. Hanover learned of Rudy's plans to divorce her from Rudy's public press conference on the subject. If you're a son, you can't be too happy with your dad treating your mother and your family this way.
And particularly telling about Rudy's character for me is the fact that he has increasingly chosen to spend most of his time with Nathan, rather than with his children. For those of us who lived in New York during Rudy's tenure as Mayor, and remember the pre-9/11 Rudy, none of this is surprising.
But it remains to see how the Republican primary voters will see it.
