“I’m old enough to remember the Rudy wars around here, he wasn’t conservative enough, blah, blah, blah. He’s always been a fighter for our side and glad he’s there, even if he isn’t 50 anymore. We’re lucky to have him.”
I lived in the NY metro area when Rudy was Mayor. He took a city effectively in ruin due to policies of David Dinkins (D) and thru his policy of arresting and prosecuting small crimes such as disturbing the peace, subway turnstile jumping and demanding cash for for washing your windshield completely turned it around to where people would again walk thru Central Park after dark and no longer feared leaving their homes at night.
He ran and was re elected and thru it all was mercilessly savaged by the NY press.
All this was after NYC considered 2,000 murders per year to be a "normal" occurrence.
I used to live in the area too, he should have been elected in ‘89 but a (what else) race row was going on and Dinkins was put forward as a “healer”. At least that allowed him to be around on 9/11