Giuliani’s Daughter Shows Obama Some Facebook Love (UPDATE)
According to a Slate report from late this morning, Rudy Giuliani's 17-year-old daughter Caroline (Harvard '11) was a card-carrying member of the Facebook group "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)." She left the group around 6 a.m. according to her mini-feed (click the picture), after Slate had asked her about it. Oh mini-feed, we never should've distrusted your worth.
Any gotcha journalist would love to have this, but it's not that surprising. As the Slate article notes, Rudy Giuliani's relationship with his two children from his second marriage, Caroline and 21-year-old Andrew, is on shaky grounds. After all, Giuliani was having an affair with his current wife Judith Giuliani for a year before letting his family know in a press conference. The two kids have no intention of campaigning for their father.
One more thing from us at IvyGate to the writer of the Slate article, Lucy Morrow Caldwell: Why not us? Caldwell, a junior at Harvard and columnist for the Crimson, does not appear to intern for Slate; a search for her name through their archives yields this one article. Lucy! Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. Don't you know IvyGate would show you more love for something like this? After all, it's Nick Summers' birthday, and the man never turns down a request on his birthday.
UPDATE 5:14 p.m. Monday: Rudy Giuliani, Caroline Giuliani's spokesperson respond (briefly)...
From ABC News' Political Radar:
But not so fast says Joannie C. Danielides, "a spokeswoman" for Caroline Giuliani:
"Before the presidential campaign got underway, Caroline added herself to a list on Facebook as an expression of interest in certain principles. It was not intended as an indication of support in a presidential campaign and she has removed it. Caroline is not commenting on the 2008 election."
Giuliani responded to the report today from Clear Lake, IA saying he doesn't "comment on [his] children because I want to give them the maximum degree of privacy."
"I think children in situations like this deserve to have the maximum degree of privacy. And the best way to preserve that is, except to point out that you love them and care about them and you're very, very proud of them, just don't comment about it," Giuliani said.
Not specifically sure what Caroline Giuliani's spokewoman means, but she's onto something. This story is spreading like political wildfire because of inclusion in a Facebook group. People do all sorts of shit on Facebook. I think I was in that group at some point, but I'm not sure who I support anymore. So given its source material, Slate's headline -- "Rudy Giuliani's daughter is supporting Barack Obama" -- might be jumping the gun.
--JIM NEWELL
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August 6th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
I like how she’s interested in ‘random play’ and ‘whatever I can get’. She needs to stop putting out that “easy and desperate” vibe, or transfer to Duke.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Both Slate and the New York Times should be ashamed for reporting this. There is little to no news value in this story, and it serves no purpose other than to embarrass Mr. Giuliani and his daughter. It is a blatant invasion of her privacy, something which she obviously has tried to defend by refusing to speak with the press since this “story” broke, and by blocking access to her Facebook account.
As the child of another elected official, I sympathize deeply with Ms. Giuliani. The children of politicians don’t ask to be born into their parents families. Many of us don’t seek the attention and would rather avoid being forced into the spotlight. We don’t want to be public figures, simply because our parents are. I personally know the child of one of the presidential candidates who never created a Facebook account and went as far as asking her college to remove his/her name and contact information from their online directory in order to avoid such harassment.
The coverage of Mr. Giuliani’s campaign should stick to Mr. Giuliani, his policies, his experience. As long as they don’t try to make themselves part of his candidacy, his family members should be left out of the discussion. Here, through the changing of her last name in her Facebook profile, her blocking access to her profile, and her refusal to speak with the press, it is clear that his daughter is trying to maintain some semblance of privacy and a normal life. This is hard enough for political children, without invasive articles being written about them.
I doubt very much that the editorial board of the New York Times would appreciate widely-publicized stories of their children’s disagreement with the paper’s editorial content, and that such disagreements would not be published. They should extend that same courtesy to others.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
To clarify, this was posted earlier on Slate and an NYTimes blog. Ivygate should be similarly ashamed, just as it should have been for reported on the son of LA’s mayor.
August 6th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Political Child: IvyGate is not a fusty, Victorian era ideal of a broadsheet newspaper. Giuliani is running for President of the United States. Villaraigosa is Mayor of Los Angeles. These positions entail wielding a large amount of power. I certainly want to know if these people are spending too much time chasing after their wayward kids. If their kids are brats, that also tells me something about the values they taught their children. I also want to know if these kids would vote for their parents after having lived with them for years.
August 6th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
FACEBOOK: The Blog!
August 6th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Lucy Morrow Caldwell, I hate people with three names it is so pretentious. She sounds like the kind of girl that is full of spite. Lucy baby will make a good propagandist for the NY Times.
August 6th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
lucy caldwell is also one of the crimson’s most horrifically bad writers. she’s self-righteous in the most noxious way. it’s somehow appropriate that she’d hit the national spotlight with THIS pile of irrelevant garbage (”OMG! 17-year-old girl was in random facebook group that all kinds of random people are in! NEWS FLASH: giuliani’s daughter clicks “yes” reflexively!”).
August 6th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
poor caroline. First off, there’s no need to get ad hominem…it’s not her fault her father is an asshat. In other news, it appears that this story is going national. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
August 6th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Wow. Slate.com and CNN must be having, like, THE SLOWEST NEWSDAY EVER.
Citing a facebook user’s membership in a group as concrete evidence of their political beliefs is about as reliable as taking content from Wikipedia and calling it “fact”. This is not only the most irrelevant campaign story to date, but proves how people will do anything to tarnish people’s lives and careers. Although, judging by the amount of hate-inspired comments directed at the article’s auhtor, Lucy Morrow Caldwell, maybe the article was written to find out exactly how many people hate her.
The election is over a year away. Leave the candidates kids alone.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
This is a total non-story, articles have been reporting for a while that Giuliani’s estranged from his kids. He’s an ass for letting them know through a press interview that he’s going to divorce their mom. Was there any point in letting the country know about this girl’s facebook activities? I hope it doesn’t reflect badly on Caroline and as an aside, that picture is really flattering.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
GIULIANI is going to completely cream every other candidate. Too bad Caroline’s going to Harvard, haha, she’s going to HATE IT. Pretty much 80% losers/outcasts.
August 6th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
also, since such a big deal is being made of her joining the obama group, has anyone noted that her political views are liberal? it seems a no brainer that she might not totally support her father.
August 6th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
from defending finals clubs (because it is diverse: after all, “there are also many members who fall into socioeconomic brackets closer to the middle”), to calling depression something that’s just “en vogue” to telling the organizers of take back the night that “they can have it”, caldwell is just the epitome of good journalism. glad she’s getting the press she deserves
August 6th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
from defending finals clubs (because it is diverse: after all, “there are also many members who fall into socioeconomic brackets closer to the middle”), to calling depression something that’s just “en vogue” to telling the organizers of take back the night that “they can have it”, caldwell is just the epitome of good journalism. glad she’s getting the press she deserves
August 7th, 2007 at 12:34 am
Is that an oral sex joke in the last line?
August 7th, 2007 at 8:29 am
oh noes - a liberal not supporting a republican? when will the madness cease!??!
as an aside, she wont have trouble getting random play at harvard.
August 7th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
honestly, who cares? it’s a funny news story- let it die at that. thanks for reporting this ivygate, it got a chuckle out of me.