With Friends Like These . . .

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's presidential campaign has been based entirely on the argument that he is best situated to protect America from terrorists around the world.  It's his, and his supporters, most significant point of emphasis and has pushed him to the top of the heap among candidates for the GOP nomination despite a social policy record that would make most liberals blush. It also represents a serious minefield for Giuliani, who is trying to fend off charges that his campaign is based solely on capitalizing on the great publicity he received for his performance in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York.

It's a sensitive issue that can make him look like the most craven of beings, seeking to win the presidency on the backs of emergency responders, who risked their lives and health to help others, and those who perished in the attacks.  Giuliani has always denied that his candidacy is based on September 11th and that he isn't seeking to capitalize on the tragedy.

Well, with friends like these . . .

The Associated Press reported Monday that a Giuliani supporter is hosting a fundraiser with an interesting entry fee:  $9.11. 

A supporter of Rudy Giuliani's is throwing a party that aims to raise $9.11 per person for the Republican's presidential campaign.  Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, Calif., home on Wednesday, when Giuliani backers across the country are participating in the campaign's national house party night. 

But Sofaer said he had nothing to do with the "$9.11 for Rudy" theme.  "There are some young people who came up with it," Sofaer said when reached by telephone Monday evening. He referred other questions to Giuliani's campaign.  "I'm just providing support for him. He's an old friend of mine," Sofaer said of Giuliani.  Sofaer was a State Department adviser under President Reagan and is a fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution

Giuliani's campaign had no immediate comment.

According to the invitation, "$9.11 for Rudy" is an "independent, non-denominational grass-roots campaign to raise $10,000 in small increments to show how many individual, everyday Americans support `America's Mayor.'"

This event, in my humble opinion, puts the lie to the notion that Giuliani, and his backers, are trying to squeeze September 11th for all it's worth.  That his campaign hasn't put the kibosh on this ridiculous theme for a fundraiser tells me all I need to know about where September 11th sits on the totem pole that is the Giuliani campaign.

Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of the recently published book Republicans and the Black Vote.  He blogs at MichaelFauntroy.com