What an interesting story about Rudy’s “patriotism”…that is, trading it for a pandering opportunity to hobnob with Ralph Reed last year:

“WASHINGTON – Rudolph Giuliani’s membership on an elite Iraq study panel came to an abrupt end last spring after he failed to show up for a single official meeting of the group, causing the panel’s top Republican to give him a stark choice: either attend the meetings or quit, several sources said.

Giuliani left the Iraq Study Group last May after just two months, walking away from a chance to make up for his lack of foreign policy credentials on the top issue in the 2008 race, the Iraq war.

He cited “previous time commitments” in a letter explaining his decision to quit, and a look at his schedule suggests why – the sessions at times conflicted with Giuliani’s lucrative speaking tour that garnered him $11.4 million in 14 months.

Giuliani failed to show up for a pair of two-day sessions that occurred during his tenure, the sources said – and both times, they conflicted with paid public appearances shown on his recent financial disclosure. Giuliani quit the group during his busiest stretch in 2006, when he gave 20 speeches in a single month that brought in $1.7 million.

On one day the panel gathered in Washington – May 18, 2006 – Giuliani delivered a $100,000 speech on leadership at an Atlanta business awards breakfast. Later that day, he attended a $100-a-ticket Atlanta political fundraiser for conservative ally Ralph Reed, whom Giuliani hoped would provide a major boost to his presidential campaign.”

Yeah, that Rudy…what a clever man he is (not!). He thought he could swoop-in to Ralph’s enclave of the party and suck-up all of the available air (and support) to himself. He’s as short-sighted AND ignorant as John McCain was last year when McCain made a speech in front of Falwell’s school, trying to pander to THAT group.

When will these candidates EVER learn that tricks are for kids, not politicians?

This entry was posted by Bill Simon, on Tuesday, June 19th, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under Rumors and You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.