by Seth Michaels, Jan 23, 2008

Members of the Fire Fighters union (IAFF) are traveling across Florida to set the record straight about  former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and his role before, during and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Fire Fighters plan to follow Giuliani through Florida every day until the state’s Jan. 29 primary. Al Santora, a retired deputy chief who lost his firefighter son, Christopher Santora, in the attacks, says it’s crucial the public sees through the myth of Giuliani’s leadership on 9/11.

I was in FDNY [Fire Department of New York] for more than 40 years, and was the chief of safety, so I know that Giuliani did nothing for firefighters. His actions at the time and leading up to the attack, and during the day itself, showed a tremendous lack of judgment and failure of leadership.

Rudy talks a big game about 9/11, but the fact is he was on the street that day, not in a controlled place making command decisions, because he had placed his emergency command center at 7 World Trade Center—the number-one terrorist target in the world, which collapsed on 9/11. That video that everyone has in their heads of Giuliani on the streets is him running away from the scene because he had nowhere to go because of his bad decisions.

The Fire Fighters say that in addition to placing the city’s emergency response center at the World Trade Center site—a proven terror target—Giuliani failed to provide them with working radios. The failure to make radio contact led to the deaths of many firefighters in the collapsing World Trade Center towers. Further, union members and job safety advocates say Giuliani failed to provide for the health and safety of rescue workers and cleanup crews.

The Orlando Sentinel’s Political Pulse blog features a video of a rally in which Fire Fighters, and others who lost loved ones in the attacks, talk about why they feel Giuliani is the wrong candidate to lead the nation.

Giuliani’s campaign for president relies on a strong showing in Florida. As his former frontrunner status collapses nationally and in early primary states, he’s depending more and more on a win there to keep his campaign alive.

While some pundits claim he “hasn’t been beaten,” in fact, Giuliani has yet to turn in a respectable finish in any state—even in New Hampshire, where he campaigned hard and spent millions on TV ads.

The sum total of Giuliani’s campaign thus far? A fourth, a fifth and three sixth-place finishes, good for about 58,000 votes and a grand total of one convention delegate—significantly behind the unorthodox campaign of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.).

“I think our strategy has kinda worked out,” Giuliani is claiming. Of course, he claimed he was a Ground Zero rescue worker, too. He claims a lot of things.

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Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

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