Giuliani Pitches Himself as a Can-Do Candidate

Mayor Giuliani, considered a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, says America needs to expand its military and pitched himself as the candidate who would instill fear in the Iranian president.

"What I can do is get things done, accomplish things," the former mayor told a crowd of about 1,000 supporters at a baseball-themed fund-raiser at the Sheraton in Midtown last night. "People said New York was ungovernable. We governed it and it became the best example of urban renaissance."

Saying he is "impatient and singled-minded" about his goals, he told the crowd that he'd bring the same focus to the White House to lower taxes, reduce spending, achieve energy independence, and improve international relations. He said the country needs a "bigger military" that can handle both large attack and "multiple complex limited actions," and said it was time to capture Osama bin Laden.

Mr. Giuliani was introduced by comedian Dennis Miller, who used at least one expletive when joking about the lack of trustworthy evidence to back up claims of global warming. In a performance that felt something like an HBO standup special, Mr. Miller also called two Democrats, including the speaker of the House of Representatives, "morons" and "inconsequential people who don't take the threat to our culture seriously."

"When you watch morons like Nancy Pelosi and David Obey of Wisconsin discussing our pullout from Iraq, the other day, they make like eight errors in four seconds," the comedian said as supporters snacked on Cracker Jacks and drank beer in blue plastic Rudy 2008 ballpark cups.

Mr. Giuliani did not invoke the same language, but he did cast Democrats as weak. On the domestic front, he said the country needs to expand the freedom to choose health care. He said Democrats are "moving toward a socialist model."

On foreign policy, he said the nation must exhaust every avenue to stop the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, from getting a nuclear weapon, an idea he declared unacceptable.

He did not call explicitly for military action, but seemed to suggest that he would be more willing to use it than his Democratic rivals.

"I believe it has a better chance of working if he believes that he has a president who will not under any circumstances allow Iran to have nuclear weapons," he said.

The $2,300-a-head fund-raiser drew a sea of New York Republics, including many of his former commissioners and deputy mayors. His wife, Judith, also spoke.

While those inside seemed smitten with the former mayor, a small group of protesters, including several September 11 family members, criticized him outside. In recent days, the mayor been criticized by the International Association of Fire Fighters.

"He had eight years to correct the problem and he ignored it," Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian Regenhard, a probationary firefighter was killed in the attacks.

A former police commissioner under Mr. Giuliani, Howard Safir, called the fire union attacks "totally bogus," and said the firefighters he's met nationwide are behind the mayor's candidacy.

Nationally, Mr. Giuliani is logging more than 20-point leads over his leading GOP opponent, Senator McCain — that despite the fact that he does not fit the standard socially conservative mold that the Republican Party generally turns to as its nominee.

Meanwhile, a Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday found that more New Yorkers think Mayor Bloomberg is doing a better job as mayor and would make a better president than Mr. Giuliani.

Of the 1,261 New Yorkers polled, 46% were with Mr. Bloomberg in both categories, while 16% said Mr. Giuliani was a better mayor and 31% said he would make a better president. Mr. Bloomberg dismissed the poll, saying he's not even a candidate in the race.

"It's very flattering, but I don't think that Rudy's worried about this," Mr. Bloomberg said.

A further breakdown of the poll showed that Mr. Giuliani is more popular among Republican voters in the city, by a 60% to 29% margin.