Rudy Giuliani: “Leave my family alone”

by Maureen O'Connor | August 17, 2007 at 10:29 am

Rudy Giuliani: "Leave my family alone"

Rudy Giuliani's kids may not be on the trail with him this time around (the above images feature son Andrew at Giuliani's mayoral inauguration in 1994), but the presence of his daughter Caroline, Obama-curious Harvard '11, was felt at a town-hall meeting in New Hampshire yesterday.  A New Hampshire woman asked how the ex-mayor could expect voters' support when he did not even have the support of his children.  The Associated Press reports,

"I love my family very, very much and will do anything for them. There are complexities in every family in America," Giuliani said calmly and quietly. "The best thing I can say is kind of, 'Leave my family alone, just like I'll leave your family alone.'"

This from the guy who said he'd bring his wife to cabinet meetings.  Judith Nathan aside, the question of how much scrutiny politicians' children deserve -- or ought to be shielded from -- remains hotly contested.  Caroline's Facebook affiliations seem relatively benign to us; but what about Antonio Villaraigosa Jr. bragging about his powers of persuasion with the LAPD?  (Dad Antonio Sr. is the mayor of LA)  Are there times when the sins of the child reflect on the father?  And what value do the "sins" of a teenager talking big on the internet have, anyway? 

And what about poor Chelsea Clinton, who had the terrible misfortune of going through puberty while her dad was in the White House?!  Let's set a ground rule:  Kids with braces should be off-limits.  --MAUREEN O'CONNOR

Comments 13 Comments | | Print This Post Print This Post
Tags Read more: , , ,