Giuliani Campaign Manual Misplaced or Stolen
Jan. 2, 2007 — -- Rudolph Giuliani attended the memorial service for former President Ford Tuesday, surrounded by the nation's biggest political leaders.
But it was the former New York City mayor who ended up making the big news, landing in the middle of a potential political bombshell.
The New York Daily News obtained an 140-page dossier outlining Giuliani's presidential campaign strategy, including everything from his fundraising plans to perceived political weaknesses.
Giuliani hasn't even officially announced his plans to run for president, although he formed a presidential exploratory committee last November.
The dossier, in the form of a notebook, was given to Daily News reporter Ben Smith by someone "sympathetic" to one of Giuliani's competitors, although Smith would not reveal which one. "It was given to me by Christmas elves," he said.
The headline in the Daily News said the notebook was left in a hotel room by a Giuliani aide. But the Giuliani camp strongly denied that, and a spokeswoman called the leak of the notebook a campaign dirty trick.
The notebook revealed that Giuliani is planning a gargantuan fundraising push to bring in more than $100 million this year, $25 million in the first quarter alone.
One page from the notebook included an outline of how the fundraising operation would be organized, using baseball terminology to describe the different levels of fundraising. MVP (Most Valuable Player) fundraisers, for example, would be expected to bring in more than $200,000 each, while All-Stars would need to snag $100,000 and Sluggers $50,000.
Why does Giuliani need so much money? His camp expects to be hit hard on several subjects. The Daily News reports the notebook lists anticipated problem areas that could come up during a nasty campaign. For example:
Giuliani's multimillion dollar consulting firm
Giuliani's close relationship with disgraced former aide Bernard Kerik
Giuliani's marital history, including his divorce from his second wife, Donna Hanover
The campaign memo said that Giuliani could expect to be hit with more than $100 million worth of attacks on these subjects.
Other than the slightly amateurish quality of losing such a document, nothing in the notebook is severely damaging, or even shocking. There are no skeletons in the closet that haven't been reported on before.
But the biggest problem revealed in the memo might be that several big-money targets listed as potential Giuliani donors, including Lew Eisenberg, Larry Bathgate and FedEx CEO Fred Smith, have already signed up with Sen. John McCain, Giuliani's chief Republican rival.
"There is a limited number of good people out there," said Republican strategist Rich Galen. But Galen said Giuliani still has some built-in advantages over his competitors. "Giuliani is frozen in time" in the minds of Americans, in the events surrounding September 11, he said.
In the latest polling in Iowa and New Hampshire, Giuliani made a strong showing, and was either leading or closely behind McCain.