Rudi and Judi: It Was Macanudo
by Ryan Sager
Sun, 5 Aug 2007 at 11:27 PM
updated Sun, 5 Aug 2007 at 11:35 PM
Rudy Giuliani and Judith Nathan have finally decided to disclose where they met: Club Macanudo, a cigar bar on Manhattan's Upper East Side.
According to the Web site:
The couple apparently discloses this in an interview to be published in tomorrow's New York Times.
Other details furnished by the couple:
* They met in May of 1999.
* They were introduced by a doctor.
* Rudy asked Judi for her phone number after a lengthy conversation about the pharmaceutical industry.
This is significant because...
...whatever the truth is about how the couple met, and who pursued whom, it's apparently important to the Giuliani campaign that the responsibility for any bad behavior rest squarely on the shoulders of the candidate — not his wife.
This may sound counterintuitive, but it makes sense if you think about it. This account has been released in response to an unflattering piece on Mrs. Giuliani published in Vanity Fair. That account has Judi Nathan slipping the mayor her business card. This new account has Rudy doing the pursuing.
The calculation, it looks to me, is that people are prepared to accept that Rudy wasn't a good husband — in fact, that he's a bit of a cad. That perception is inevitable. At this point, the Giuliani campaign just wants to avoid Judi being painted as an utter conniving witch.
Frankly, I'm not so sure they can avoid that perception. The first wives of America know what they think of third wives — and it ain't good.
UPDATE: Here's the New York Times article. It was actually in Sunday's paper. New York's Channel 4 News, where I picked up the story, seems to have had the date wrong.
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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