Former New York
mayor Rudy Giuliani on Thursday dismissed his liberal
social views--including support for gay
rights--his divorces, and his former aide's
imbroglio as irrelevant to a presidential bid. Asked about
a leaked political strategy memo that cited such issues as
potentially insurmountable obstacles to a campaign for
the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Giuliani
said, ''That is not going to be the issue.''
''I sure have
strengths and weaknesses,'' Giuliani said on ABC's Good
Morning America. ''I think that sort of puts
me in the same category as just about everybody else that's
running. Are my strengths greater or my weaknesses
worse? I don't know. You have to sort of examine that.
That won't be the issue.''
Giuliani, who
formed a presidential exploratory committee last year, said
he is still weighing whether to run for president. ''You
have to feel inside yourself there is something
special I can do--some kind of special
experience I have had or background,'' said Giuliani, who
became known as ''America's mayor'' for his response
to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Giuliani made
headlines last week when a copy of his nascent campaign's
strategy paper made its way to the New York Daily News. Aides claimed the 140-page document was
pilfered from a piece of luggage when a staffer changed
planes. The document acknowledged the obvious: a moderate
Republican who has supported abortion rights, gay
rights, and gun control may be a tough sell to GOP
primary voters.
It also cited his
stormy divorce from Donna Hanover, one of his former
wives, and his ties to scandal-plagued former New York City
police chief Bernard Kerik as potential obstacles.
(AP)
