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Nov 19, 2007 7:48 pm US/Eastern
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Giuliani Plays Up 9/11 Card In N.H. Ads
Pundit: 'His Greatest Strength Could Be His Greatest Weakness'
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Former New York mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani is now formally -- and officially -- playing the Sept. 11 card in his campaign bid.
Giuliani is now calling himself "America's Mayor" and asking voters in Iowa and New Hampshire to chew on his 9/11 record. His new campaign commercial now airing in New Hampshire only obliquely refers to the fateful day in American history, but his new mailing literature struts his 9/11 credentials front and center.
"After the worst attacks on U.S. soil, Rudy Giuliani went to work after rebuilding New York City and faith in America," boasts the mailing.
But not everyone is buying into it.
"I think that's a disgrace," says FDNY Deputy Fire Chief Jim Riches.
Giuliani's decision to play the 9/11 card came on the same day a group of 9/11 families and firefighters were in New Hampshire to argue that he didn't do such a good job neither before nor after the attacks.
"He lied about the quality of air and didn't give us respirators," says Riches.
Former police commissioner Howard Safir has a different view, one of the many who believe Giuliani has a right to laud his efforts as mayor of New York City that day.
"On 9/11 there was a horrific tragedy, one of the worst attacks on this country. Somebody needed to step forward and lead not only this city, but this nation, in a way that people would say the terrorists aren't going to defeat us," says Safir.
Pundits say 9/11 cuts both ways for Giuliani.
"For Rudy Giuliani, his greatest strength could also be his greatest weakness," says Fernando Ferrer of Mercury Public Affairs. "It's his biggest calling card to areas outside of New York where he was known, but you take the good with the bad on that."
And in the battle for terrorism credentials, Sen. John McCain scored a big get Monday. His presidential campaign was endorsed by former New Jersey governor Tom Kean, the head of the 9/11 Commission at ground zero.
While Giuliani leads in most national polls, currently he's trailing former Mass. governor Mitt Romney in both Iowa and New Hampshire.
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