SNEAK PEEK: Taxing Week for Clinton

October 12, 2007— -- The media will never tire of writing about the liberal Rudy Giuliani: the pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, Mario Cuomo-loving former mayor of New York.

But this focus sometimes obscures Rudy-the-Red-Meat-Eater.

Take this afternoon.

On the same day that Al Gore collected his Nobel Peace Prize -- and one day before John McCain and Mike Huckabee are set to join a bevy of Democrats in delivering remarks to the Global Warming and Energy Solutions Conference in Manchester, N.H. -- the former New York mayor showed off his paelocon side, accusing Gore of "hysteria" on the climate issue.

"Maybe he doesn't mean to," Giuliani said of Gore's work on climate issues "but sometimes he presents it with kind of a sense of almost hysteria."

As for the Democrats, it's been a taxing week for Hillary Clinton. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, she confirmed that she will not be proposing a $5,000 baby bond. She had floated the idea while speaking to the Congressional Black Caucus on Sept. 28.

She then handed her opponents more ammunition by telling the Boston Globe: "I have a million ideas. The country can't afford them all."

And thanks to the AP's Nedra Pickler, we now know that Clinton is privately weighing a Social Security tax hike on those who make more than $200,000 a year even though she rejected this Edwards idea during a recent AARP forum.

Edwards gets a chance to go after Clinton on Social Security "doublespeak" when he campaigns Saturday in New Hampshire.

His spokeswoman, Andrea Purse, previewed a line of attack, telling ABC News: "Voters deserve to know why she would consider one thing in private, but won't tell the American people where she stands in front of the TV cameras."

As for Clinton herself, she joins Barack Obama and Joe Biden Saturday evening at a "Sisters on Target" banquet in Des Moines, Iowa. The non-partisan African American women's group's stated mission is to advocate for "the restoration of dignity and the consistent well being of communities, neighborhoods and families."

If Clinton and Obama bump into one another, perhaps they can talk about how helpful Dick Durbin can be (under the right circumstances). and

On the money front, third-quarter fundraising reports are due Monday at the F.E.C.

On the Left Coast, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has until the end of Saturday to decide on a bill which could change the way gun crimes are solved in California. The legislation would make California the first state to require that semiautomatic weapons be equipped with microstamping technology which imprints microscopic markings as a gun fires.

Your Saturday through Monday details:

Saturday, October 13

RUDY GIULIANI--10:00 pm ET: Delivers remarks to National Italian American Foundation, Washington, DC.

MITT ROMNEY--8:45 am ET: Attends a Traverse City Republican Party at the Hagerty Center, Traverse City, MI

--9:45 am ET: Press availability, Traverse City, MI

--1:45 pm ET: Holds a press availability at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Grand Rapids, MI

--2:00 pm ET: Hosts a Grand Rapids "Ask Mitt Anything" Town Hall, Grand Rapids, MI

--4:00 pm ET: Attends a Grand Valley State University vs. Indianapolis Tailgate, Allendale, MI

JOHN MCCAIN

--11:15 am ET: Makes remarks, Manchester, NH

--1:00 pm ET: Delivers remarks to Global Warming and Energy Solutions Conference, Manchester, NH