'America's Mayor' Notably Absent from Firefighters Forum

[underpants]

Giuliani's Absence From Candidate Cattle Call Highlights Political Tension Among Firefighters

"Among" :eyes: there are no political tensions "Among" the firefighters in the whole 4 page article-mostly comments from the IAFF President Harold Schaitberger

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2950548&page=1

Mar. 14, 2007 — Where's Rudy? Perhaps no candidate in the 2008 trail mix is as closely associated with the response to 9/11 than former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. So you might assume that if any candidate had the endorsement of the firefighters, it would be "America's Mayor."

But when firefighters from every congressional district in the country met in Washington this week to flex their collective muscle, a bipartisan collection of White House hopefuls quickly assembled to impress the 280,000-member bloc whose endorsement results in priceless political capital, except for one — Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani was invited to attend the International Association of Fire Fighters candidate forum but ultimately declined, citing a scheduling conflict. His decision not to participate brought to the forefront political tensions that have brewed between Giuliani and the firefighters for some time.



For Schaitberger, the key questions for the presidential candidates courting his members are, "Do they have a career of understanding and appreciating the work that firefighters do?" and "Have they consistently used their good office — wherever and whatever office they held — to advance the agenda and the issues that are critical to our members?

[speedoo]

1. If I were a firefighter, Rudy Giuliani would be the LAST person..

I'd want to see in any public office that has anything to do with firefighters. And that obviously includes POTUS.

And that, my friends is at the core of issues yhat will ultimately defeat Rudy.

"America's Mayor" my ass.

[Maddy McCall]

2. The news is just getting around...Firefighters are a national family.

We worked a bad wreck yesterday, and afterwards, we were back at the station. Giuliani came up. Our chief told the guys that NYFD isn't supporting him because he neglected the department after 9/11. Everyone said that that was enough for them, and that they wouldn't support him.

The word is getting around. Not giving firefighters the supplies they need, not allowing them to search for/rescue their fallen fellows, not providing follow-up health care....even in rural Mississippi those are cardinal sins.

[gratuitous]

3. Yep, and this is why the GOP is so anti-union

As long as workers are isolated from each other, a guy like Giuliani can commit his depradations against workers in New York and get away with it. But when unionized workers get together and trade information and experience, the neglect Giuliani practiced in New York is shared far and wide. And union workers will believe and trust their union brothers and sisters far more than any slick ad campaign produced by the big money stolen from their pockets.

So the GOP has to keep unions down and the workers estranged from one another. Otherwise, they'd have to actually be sensitive to the concerns of working people, instead of just saying they're sensitive to those concerns. And we all know what a drag it is for capital to have to think about labor.

[mtnester]

5. The locals have gotten the word....IAFF is sending out info

or so I heard...to the state AND local level telling them that Guiliani is NOT their guy..I think I saw an article here the other day that said "Not only NO, but HELL NO" on Rudy


I work at a FD too (not as a FF/P-Medic, but as a geek) and have been there for 14 years. If the NY local comes out hard, Rudy will be toast.

Again, he does not get it at all.

[pinniped]

4. I never voted for this punk to be Merka's Mayor.

.

[nodehopper]

6. giuliani to run for president of 9/11

seems like an appropriate offering from The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/giuliani_to_run_for_president_of_9

[pinniped]

7. Hilarious, I saw that a couple weeks ago.

.