Firefighters tell Florida Security Moms: Rudy hired 'unqualified yes men' Nick Juliano

Published: Friday January 25, 2008



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Print This Email This In a flier that will be landing in more than 100,000 Florida mailboxes before the state's Republican primary, a firefighters' union accuses foundering candidate Rudy Giuliani of excercising poor judgement and populating his New York administration with "unqualified yes men," such as indicted former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. The International Association of Firefighters political arm has long targeted Giuliani, accusing him of building an "urban legend" around images of himself wandering among the wreckage of Sept. 11, 2001. Their latest salvo comes as the former New York mayor who once was thought to have a lock on the GOP nomination finds his poll numbers tanking in Florida, a state his campaign has focused almost exclusively on in recent weeks. The firefighters' mailer is targeting "security moms" in the sunshine state and will be sent to 128,000 women between the ages of 40 and 80 before next Tuesday's primary, reports The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder. It says Giuliani is not qualified to be president because of his poor judgement and penchant for hiring unqualified, possibly corrupt loyalists. "Instead of hiring a real police chief," it says, "Giuliani appointed his driver, Bernard Kerik. He then asked President Bush to appoint him as secretary of Homeland Security when Kerik was on the verge of a federal indictment. Giuliani would rather reward unqualified loyal cronies that real leaders. He can't be trusted with decisions on such important issues." The Giuliani campaign released an ad Thursday featuring a positive testimonial from the brother of a firefighter who died on 9/11. The firefighters' union also relies on testimonials from relatives of 9/11 victims. "My son was a fire fighter who died on 9/11. I resent Rudy Giuliani using this tragedy for his own political gain." the mailer quotes FDNY Deputy Chief Jim Riches saying. "He's a coward who left out city unprepared for a terrorist attack."



