Posted on 01/07/2007 11:46:24 AM PST by wagglebee
THERE is one woman who could cause Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, more problems than Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House: she is Donna Hanover, his second wife, writes Sarah Baxter.
Hanover, an actress and broadcaster, was enraged by Giuliani’s flagrant infidelity towards the end of their 18-year marriage and the divorce case was vicious. Giuliani’s advisers fear that she could be a loose cannon in the 2008 campaign.
Giuliani was acclaimed as the “mayor of America” for his heroic role during the attacks on September 11, 2001 and is revered for his leadership. At the time he was living in the spare room of an apartment belonging to gay friends after Hanover forced him out of Gracie Mansion, the official residence.
Hanover refused to confirm that she would vote for Giuliani as mayor of New York even when she was married to him. “What kind of wife is that?” Raoul Felder, Giuliani’s lawyer, fumed. “She’s essentially saying she’s not going to vote for him.”
Hanover once stood outside a shower at Gracie Mansion, expecting to confront Judith Nathan, Giuliani’s mistress, now his third wife. In the event, a startled golfing friend of Giuliani’s emerged.
Hanover was also accused of a lack of sympathy while the former mayor was battling prostate cancer, by banishing him to a spare bedroom and exercising noisily on a treadmill at 5am.
New Yorkers relished the details of Giuliani’s larger-than-life personal story. But conservative “values voters” could be different, as Giuliani’s own aides noted in a 140-page memo leaked last week by supporters of a rival candidate.
The campaign dossier suggested that Hanover could be one of several potentially “insurmountable” vulnerabilities that could cause him to drop out of the race. It was an embarrassing start to a campaign that is not yet officially under way.
Giuliani’s record in fighting crime and terrorism has placed him at the top of several polls for the 2008 Republican nomination, edging out Senator John McCain in popular support. But the party base may be turned off by his support for abortion, immigration, gun control and gay rights (although not gay marriage). It is their votes that he needs to secure the nomination.
“It would be one thing if Giuliani could say, ‘I’m a strong social conservative in my private life’, but he can’t even say that,” said Ramesh Ponnuru, a conservative commentator and author of The Party of Death, an attack on social liberalism. “It’s not just the fact of his multiple marriages, it is the way the Hanover marriage melted down. It was operatic.”
When Giuliani met Hanover on a blind date in the early 1980s, his first marriage to Regina, his second cousin, was already over. Hanover, who went on to appear in the television series Ally McBeal, was a glamorous soulmate who seemed to enjoy the spotlight as much as he did.
They had two children, Andrew, 21, and Caroline, 17, but in 1996 Hanover stopped calling herself by his last name and a year later Vanity Fair magazine said that he was having an “intimate relationship” with a senior member of his staff.
In 2000, without telling Hanover first, Giuliani announced at a press conference that he was separating from her. She retaliated by accusing him of being unfaithful with the employee, but he was already with Nathan.
Maggie Gallagher, a family values campaigner, was outraged by Giuliani’s “scummy” performance, accusing him of making Bill Clinton “look good as a husband and father”.
New Yorkers learnt during the divorce case that their cancer- afflicted mayor was temporarily impotent and Hanover demanded a huge settlement, including £760 a month to care for Goalie, the family’s golden retriever.
Felder struck back, accusing Hanover of being an “uncaring mother” who was “howling like a stuck pig”.
In the end Giuliani, who was beginning to earn big consultancy fees after September 11, agreed to a settlement of $6.8m to avoid the full horror of a court case.
Hanover has married Ed Oster, her university sweetheart, and written a book, My Boyfriend’s Back, about rekindling an old romance. Even if she stays mum, there is enough in the public domain to rattle conservatives. Yet however vicious the personal attacks on Giuliani, they are unlikely to dent his reputation for competence. He did, after all, handle the September 11 attacks while bunking with gay friends in the midst of an affair and a divorce battle.
But she didn't know that at the time, nor did he.
It's a good thing Rudy didn't rape & bite the lip of a woman, otherwise he'd be a shoo-in for the Presidency.
Was any planning for evacuation made after the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center?
Why were the emergency response protocols not followed after the Sept. 11 attacks? It could have saved a lot of lives in New York.
I have worked extensively in first responder situations and a lot of people died needlessly.
"Leadership" my big black behind...
I didn't ask anything about "humor." I haven't mentioned "humor." If you think it's funny, that's fine. No harm in jokes. I simply didn't find that Rudy had done anything illegal or morally wrong--contrary to a number of people on this thread.
No thats' not it.
Rudy's firm belief is that the 2nd Amendment is NOT and Individual Right but a 'state right'. It has zero to do with crime.
In addition, Rudy was on C-SPAN about a week ago (maybe two now) ranting and raving about "people buying guns" and that Congress should pass a Federal law that ALL firearms owners be Licensed By The Federal Government. That little proposition is Unconstitutional on its face. For one Congress does not have the power or authority to do that.
Rudy hates guns period. He won't even bother to hide behind the 'hunting' canard like gun grabbing Dems. He wants all guns outlawed - period. Heck, John Kerry is more pro gun than Rudy.
And THAT is b-a-d thing.
The ONLY WAY Rudy would even get the VP spot is if he could swing NY to the GOP and that only happens if Hitlery isn't the 'Rat nominee.
What kind of a mother does a play about her genital!
Donna Hanover - Hanover scandalized some portions of the nation by accepting the lead role in Eve Ensler's controversial play The Vagina Monologues. ...
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20010305&s=pollitt
Part of the reason she did this to hurt him but what about her children? knowing their mother is shameless!
Why can't some of you folks who would not vote for him as president because of issues, at least give credit where it is due and recognized the things he did do under extream times I say Bless the man not curse him.
his marriage as on the rocks way before he serperated from her and she hung around until his term was ending what a true femenist Witch!
What happen to love for better or for worst or in sickness and in health.
She was the worst and when he was sick!
Some people really love the person when they marry, some marry for opportunities and bail when the going gets ruff!
I really like Guiliani but I would not vote for him as president if he got a cabinet calling I would support it!
Mike Tyson could be too, he actually bit an ear off... and he can actually throw a punch, unlike a lot of these girly men who dress up like women...
"I would never marry one of my second cousins. It means our great grandparents were the same"
And the family tree would resemble a bonsai.
Too bad. Marriage is serious business. In my religion it is sanctioned by God. It's one thing for man to flout God's law and beat his wife, or harm his children. In that case an annulment can be considered.
But divorce because she wasn't what you expected? Or because she's a liberal? No way.
Then, I go back to, "We disagree."
Conservatives need to leave the social issues ALONE. That's right, stop pontificating about moral values for once and start cutting taxes, fighting a real war on terror, and limiting the size of government. When these are taking care of, the social issues will take care of themselves.
If Guiliani or Romney chooses a strong VP selection such as Pence, Brownback, or Hunter (and let's face it, these guys are all angling for a VP slot because there's simply no way in Hell they're going to get nominated), then I have no problem voting for Guiliani or Romney.
The good people unified and the snakes kept still until they could surface again!
BTW were here did you live through this in NYC?
The Second Amendment is not a social issue...
I would agree. However, I've heard several stories as far as the reasoning. One suggests SHE asked to have the papers served to her there.
Which gave the appearance of unity. Bush enjoyed the same thing from Congress, immediately after 9/11 the 'Rats "stood behind him" but as soon as the emotions died down they were talking appeasement.
Illegal immigration is not a social issue...
Good luck in the Democrat primary...
"Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned" - William Congreve
FDR was her 5th cousin. Not exactly close.
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