by Mark Silva
Rudy Giuliani, the front-running Republican candidate for president, had questioned what credentials Hillary Clinton, the front-running Democrat, has to serve as president in the last debate of the Republican candidates.
Tonight, in a Democratic debate, it was not Clinton, but rather one of her rivals, arguing -- forcefully -- that Giuliani is the one who is "genuinely not qualified to be president.''
At a Fox News-sponsored debate earlier this month, Giuliani, the former mayor of New York (pictured right), had said: "I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city. She's never run a state. She's never run a business. She's never met a payroll. She's never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people.''
"The irony is Rudy,'' Democratic Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware (pictured below) said in tonight's debate. "Rudy Giuliani, probably the most underqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency (and this stirred laughter and applause) is here talking about any of the people here.
"Rudy Giuliani. I mean, think about it. Rudy Giuliani,'' Biden said. "There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11.
"I mean, there's nothing else.
"There's nothing else,'' Biden said. "And I mean it sincerely. He is genuinely not qualified to be president.''
Easy for Biden to say, the Giuliani camp said tonight -- "Sen. Biden has never run anything but his mouth.''
"The good senator is quite correct that there are many differences between Rudy and him,'' Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson said tonight. "For starters, Rudy rarely reads prepared speeches and when he does he isn’t prone to ripping off the text from others. And, Sen. Biden certainly falls in to the bucket of those on the stage tonight who have never had executive experience and have never run anything. Wait, I take that back, Senator Biden has never run anything but his mouth.
“Such a desperate attack from Sen. Biden is to be expected considering I – Katie Levinson – have a better chance of becoming president than he does.”
Clinton was asked tonight how she responds to Giuiliani's criticism.
"Well, I think the kind of experience that the Republican nominees are exhibiting is the kind of experience we don't need,'' she said.
"And I think my experience of 35 years as an advocate for children and families, as a citizen activist, as someone who helped to ring educational reform and health care reform to Arkansas, bringing the Children's Health Insurance Program to fruition during the years in the White House, my time in the Senate, I think my experience on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue -- but it's really about what's at stake in this election and who can deliver the change that we all know this country desperately needs.
"And in a perverse way,'' she said, "I think that, you know, the Republicans and their constant obsession with me demonstrates clearly that they obviously think that I am communicating effectively about what I will do as president.''
Sen. Barack Obama was asked, "What specifically is your relevant experience for being president?''
"The experience I have in politics is primarily legislative, but here's the experience that I think the next president needs,'' Obama said. "I think the next president has to be able to get people to work together to get things done even when they disagree, and I've done that.
"You know, when I was in Illinois we brought police officers and civil rights advocates together to reform a death penalty system that had sent 13 innocent men to death row, and we ended up passing it unanimously, even though originally people had said it couldn't be done,'' the Illinois senator and former state legislator said.
"I also think it is critical for the next president to be experienced to stand up to special interests. I'm glad Hillary's talking about it, but I'm the only person on this stage who has worked actively just last year passing -- along with Russ Feingold -- some of the toughest ethics reforms since Watergate -- making sure that lobbyists could not provide gifts and meals to congressman, making sure the bundling of monies by lobbyists was disclosed.''
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Comments
Biden said. "There's only three things he (Rudy Gigoloiani) mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11. I mean, there's nothing else.
CHEERS!
BRAVO!
A Great Big Round Of Applause For Joe Biden!
That was the best and the most truthful statement that I have heard from any of these debates so far.
Posted by: John E | October 30, 2007 10:31 PM
"He is genuinely not qualified to be president"
Holy Cow! Hair plugs DO cause some intelligence. Somebody find some for that idiot Guilani STAT!
Posted by: weinerdog43 | October 30, 2007 11:00 PM
Ideas - direction - are more important than experience in this election. Unfortunately, NONE of the candidates seems to have good ideas about how to deal with the issues of the day - terrorism, healthcare, energy, education, globalization and the emerging housing crisis.
I'm not even looking for a candidate that has all of the answers so much as someone who seems able to bring people together.
Bill blew it for Al and I'm not voting for his wife.
Obama makes too many mistakes.
Rudy's "a noun, a verb and 9/11." Biden's right about that.
Maybe Biden offers me the most hope. But he's not going to win because the media has already written him off and the public has tuned him out.
Hillary will likely win and if not her Rudy. Neither are good choices for America.
Posted by: Bud McFarlin | October 30, 2007 11:05 PM
Anybody but another George W. Bush. I hope the country can survive till January 2009. What an abominable disaster of a president G. W. Bush has been. He is the worst president in the history of the USA. It can only get better from here.
Posted by: Dennis M. | October 30, 2007 11:10 PM
Obama Won this debate.
He was clear, specific, strong - gave answers not rehersed rehtoric like Hilary Clinton!
Obama is really strong in this Tuesday debate by giving specific examples on how Hilary is supporting the status quo Bush - especially with her vote opening pandoras box to let Bush take us down the sliperly slope of an Iran Invasion.
Also, Clinton keeps getting nailed on contradictions -- She was asked about her experience and refused to lift a block on her records at the National Archives. President Clinton had put a block on the National Archives records until 2012 that would illustrate her experience while in the White House - Tim Russert asked if she would request President Clinton to remove the 'lock down' on her records - she said she would leave it the usual 'processes' at the National Archives...
Obama Won.
Posted by: Justin | October 30, 2007 11:11 PM
And now Biden has gone off his rocker. Up till now, he had been the only adult on the Dem side. But he is just trying to get on the Queen B's good side. Biden knows he has no chance and all he wants to do now is become Hillary's Secretary of State if she should win next year.
This group of Demoncratic candidates surely is a laughable, weak and embarrassing group of incompetent boobs.
Posted by: John D | October 30, 2007 11:18 PM
Biden showed once again that he's the smartest person up there and the one that truly cares the most about this country. Yeah, he's been written off by the media, but I'm voting for him.
Posted by: Newton | October 30, 2007 11:22 PM
Bud McFarlin -- why so cynical? What I saw from the debates: at least four people I would gladly have running this country.
I agree Rudy G would be a sad outcome -- remember, 9/11 gave him a chance to REDEEM himself in NYC after he had nearly run his political career into the ground and New Yorkers were ready to run him out.
I don't see why you think Obama makes mistakes. Read the follow-up stories, not just the headlines. He's solid, and so is Biden.
And I don't think it's fair to hold Hillary accountable for Bill's mistakes. Hillary might have been an even better president than her husband. If only she weren't so battle scarred from fighting battles all her life and so quick to anger. But you know why she's angry? Because she's had to fight for us against Bush's types. I'd almost rather see Hillary replace Roberts as top Supreme Court Justice, make Biden Secretary of State, and put an Obama-Dodd ticket on Pennsylvania Ave... And I'd find good jobs for Richardson and Edwards too. We need all of them.
Posted by: Ronald Loui | October 30, 2007 11:38 PM
Did Neil Kinnock write that line for Biden?
Posted by: Wong of Stength | October 31, 2007 9:14 AM
That picture of Ghouliani is proof of what I've been saying all along. He likes the flavor of babies. Rudy eats babies as sure as Cheney eats kittens for breakfast.
Posted by: john | October 31, 2007 9:31 AM
So Hillary thinks her experience as an advocate for children and a citizen activist qualifies her to be president. You can find 200 persons with those kind of credentials hanging out in the hallways at Chicago City Hall every day.
Posted by: Daniels | October 31, 2007 10:07 AM
A prime example of a maniacal meandering from the Kook Loony Left:
That picture of Ghouliani is proof of what I've been saying all along. He likes the flavor of babies. Rudy eats babies as sure as Cheney eats kittens for breakfast.
Posted by: john | October 31, 2007 9:31 AM
John, not only does Cheney eat kittens and children, he also goes to Canada to club, kill and eat those cute baby harp seals, and he feeds the leftovers to world leaders who visit the White House. Cheney also goes to zoos to kill the zoo animals, especially the most endangered ones. He then sells the bodies to Purina so dog and cat food can be made from the dead engangered animals. And Cheney plots with the aliens in the spaceship that Kucinich saw.
Speaking of saws, Cheney actually is the bad guy in all those Saw movies.
Posted by: John D | October 31, 2007 11:05 AM
[quote]
This group of Demoncratic candidates surely is a laughable, weak and embarrassing group of incompetent boobs.
Posted by: John D | October 30, 2007 11:18 PM
[/quote]
And every one of them is better than the incompetent boobs that the Republic Party is shoving at the American people. All those boobs offer is more death of Americans in Iraq for decades to come, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars wasted in Dubya's "nation building" in Iraq (something he promised NOT TO DO while campaigning for president - can you say "flip flop"?), more warmongering, and more fearmongering with visions of Islamic bombers underneath everyone's bed.
America deserves better.
Posted by: BC | October 31, 2007 12:21 PM
Posted by: John D | October 31, 2007 11:05 AM
Don't forget that Cheney gets drunk and shoots his friends in the face with bird shot.
Posted by: BC | October 31, 2007 12:26 PM
Can you imagine the awful nightmares that poor kid will suffer the rest of her life?
'The cold dead Lizard King slowly approached, it's tongue tasting the air. There was a automatic assault rifle laying by my crib, but no ammo. The ammo was at my aunt's house and I had to make a call to her to get the ammo, plus I couldn't pick the thing up. Suddenly the awful reptile's head jerked in my direction, and it quickly began to move toward me. I let out a scream that woke the dead, but would not wake me!!'
The horror,,,,,,the horror....
Posted by: C.Morris | October 31, 2007 2:25 PM
John D.,
Cheney may not go to Zoo's to kill animals, but he participates in "canned hunts". Do you know what those are? What a sportsman, that Cheney.
Posted by: dt | October 31, 2007 3:15 PM
Thanks for the correction on the baby tasting. I thought surely he was sucking out its soul.
Posted by: The King | October 31, 2007 6:23 PM
While I have adamantly decided against giving the Republican party one vote and, truly, hope that others will refuse to allow the Republican party to continue leading this country, I find that I am somewhat disappointed in the Democratic party.
Mr. Obama, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Biden and Mr. Dodd are all sitting Senators. Mr. Kucinich is a sitting Representative. The Democrats now have control of the House and the Senate (even if it is by a small margin). Yet, nothing seems to have been done to improve or change anything of importance.
For example, we still have no firm date or plan for withdrawl from Iraq. We have no universal healthcare - not even for our children, thanks to Bush (where are the votes to override THAT veto if everyone believes that all American children deserve healthcare?). There have been no changes (or at least nothing significant) to the No Child Left Behind Act which came up for re-authorization in September.
What is most dissappointing, however, is that the majority of the candidates who spoke adamantly about getting out of Iraq as soon as possible only a few months ago, are now saying it may take until 2013!
I do not believe the American people are idiots and we are not idealists. We want to be able to choose between intelligent candidates who have good ideas and realistic plans for implementing those ideas. Don't tell us you can cut taxes and increase spending because we all know that is not possible. If money is not coming in, it cannot go out. Don't tell us that we can continue to spend billions every day in Iraq and avoid a recession here at home. Don't tell us that you care about the citizens of this country, then espouse hate-mongering.
Okay, I'd better stop now, because I can feel a serious rant coming on.
MA
Posted by: Milan | November 1, 2007 11:20 AM
Population of Delaware: 783,600
Population of NYC: 8,143,197
Source: Wikipedia
Validity of Rudy's comment: 100%
Way to go Rudy!
Biden's major credential is his foreign policy knowledge as a result of his senate service. Even so, do we really want to send this bigmouth to represent the US abroad?
What are Clinton's credentials? As far as foreign policy, her only committee assignment remotely related to foreign policy is "armed services". POTUS is the most challenging job in the world. I would like our next president to be a person who has been a successful executive both inside and outside of government. Mitt and to a lesser extent Rudy have those credentials. None of the Democrats can touch either record in terms of efficiency, success and the bottom line.
Posted by: George Roberts | November 1, 2007 5:22 PM
Apparently Rudy Giuliani told the 9/11 Commission that he never heard of Al Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001.
Posted by: Dave from queens | November 1, 2007 7:36 PM