Confused about Rudy

Ok, here’s what I don’t get. The republicans in general, and Guliani in particular, are, as usual, making national security a key part of their candidacies. They suggest that a republican president will keep America safer than a democrat would. This is, of course, bunk. Bush has alienated America from the rest of the world; our dearly-held position as the leader of nations is more of a punch line than reality at this point.

Despite Bush's frequent trumpeting of lofty goals, in fact, poll after poll shows the United States' standing and influence in the world sinking to unprecedented lows, with majorities in 10 of 15 countries polled in April 2007 by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and WorldPublicOpinion.org saying that they do not trust the United States to act responsibly. Even in the closely allied countries of Britain, Canada, and Mexico, a majority of people polled by newspapers in late 2006 viewed Bush as a threat to world peace on par with Iran's Holocaust-denying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korea's enigmatic "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il.

Yes, Bush is almost out of office, thank goodness, but many of the republican candidates want to continue down the same failure-laden path. Guliani, for instance, wants to continue many parts of Bush’s global agenda and even takes some freaky-deak parts further than even Bush did.

But here, really, is the question of this post. What in the world suggests that Guliani will ever be capable of keeping America from being attacked again? Common sense suggests that what we’d want in a president is someone who can (with his/her team’s help, of course) recognize the atmosphere for what it is, anticipate problems, and create solutions to avoid those problems. Guliani was the mayor of NYC when the centers went down. He’s running on the platform that he can keep us all safe from the terrorists, when history shows that he, in fact, couldn’t, wouldn’t, or didn’t. How is that a platform? I feel like every time he talks about 9/11 (which is every time he opens his mouth, it seems) he’s just reminding us of his failures. Can someone explain to me how he's supposed to be inspiring confidence? Because, truly, I don’t understand another way to see it.