In 1966, Richard Nixon was planning to run for the presidency again. Most observers at the time didn't give him much of a shot. He'd lost narrowly to John F. Kennedy in 1960, and then was defeated soundly in 1962 in a race to be governor of California, by Pat Brown. ABC News later that fall ran a documentary titled "The Political Obituary of Richard Nixon." But by 1966 Nixon was on the way back, changing his image, re-establishing himself within the Republican Party, campaigning for GOP candidates in the '66 midterm elections, and relentlessly criticizing the Johnson administration over Vietnam. But did the powerful in Washington see him as relevant? Was he havng any effect? Suddenly, in a fall press conference, President Johnson lashed out at Nixon, suggesting he was just a failed politician who only knew how to criticize. You wouldn't think that a national politician would enjoy criticism. But Nixon and his team did, exulting in the fact that President Johnson thought him important enough to attack him, and loving the resultant publicity it would bring Nixon. "They hit us, they really hit us!", marveled Nixon's press aide Patrick Buchanan when the news came out. (For a good description of this, see the second of Stephen Ambrose's biographies of Nixon).
I tell that story because I see the same thing happening between the rival Giuliani and Clinton campaigns. The other day Rudy Giuliani hit Senator Clinton hard, attacking her over her failure to disavow the MoveOn.org ad suggesting that General Petraeus betrayed his country and her own criticisms of Petraeus. Now today the Clinton camp has struck back. Quote: "Later Friday, Clinton's campaign shot back, saying:"It's hardly surprising that Mayor Giuliani is running the first negative ad of the '08 campaign, given his inability to justify his unqualified support for President Bush's failed Iraq strategy."
The Giuliani camp should be glad. Perhaps his jabs at Senator Clinton have drawn a little blood. And her response certainly shows that they think him relevant (you don't see her responding to anything Ron Paul says).
