Giuliani’s ‘swift boaters’

Making their case
The video makes three main arguments against Giuliani:

• The radio system the New York Fire Department used during 9/11 was defective, and firefighters in the towers could not hear two separate evacuation orders.

As a result, 121 firefighters perished when the North Tower fell, but not one police officer died, because police had a working radio system and heard the urgent calls to leave the tower. The video claims that Giuliani and other New York officials knew for many years that the firefighter radio system did not work and that they had the same problems during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center.

• Giuliani drastically scaled back search and recovery efforts at Ground Zero on Nov. 1, 2001, to make way for cleanup crews. The remains of dozens of firefighters had still not been found.

The reason for the “scoop and dump” operation, as the firefighters call it? Gold. The same day Giuliani cut back the search teams, he also announced that more than $230 million in gold and silver bars had been recovered from vaults under the tower. Some firefighters claim the search was always more about gold than it was about bodies.

• For business reasons, Giuliani decided to house the New York Command Center bunker at the 7 World Trade Center building.  The command center bunker was never used during that fateful day, and, at 5 p.m. on the evening of 9/11, the 7 WTC tower fell.

Some firefighters question why — of all places — the mayor would put the command and control bunker for emergency operations in the very building complex that was a known terrorist target, given the 1993 bombing of the WTC.

The union label
The professional firefighters union is one of the most politically savvy of the trade unions. It was the first major labor group to jump on Kerry’s bandwagon, and it helped propel his campaign in 2004. The firefighters union has yet to endorse a candidate this year, but it is probably fair to say it will not be endorsing Giuliani. In fact, while most of the other major presidential candidates from both parties addressed the firefighters’ annual convention in March, Giuliani abruptly canceled his speech, fearing an ugly response from the thousands of firefighters gathered in the hall.

Message board What do you think of Giuliani's candidacy?

The firefighters union claims it put together its video primarily to educate its membership — professional firefighters across the country. But in the age of YouTube and the 24-hour news cycle, a video attack like this is likely to generate a great amount of press.

Given that the union does not have plans to launch a large TV or radio advertising campaign, as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth did in the summer of 2004, will the media be reporting about this video at all? The answer is probably yes, because the game has changed since 2004.

Success breeds success
Why should candidates or issue groups spend millions on traditional advertising when they can generate hundreds of thousands of hits by simply uploading a video? Take, for example, the Hillary Clinton campaign’s use of a “Sopranos” spoof to unveil a campaign theme song. Simply by making the video and posting it on her campaign Web site, she generated a stunning amount of favorable press and television coverage (not to mention millions of dollars’ worth of free advertising).

A well-done attack video posted on the Internet can have a big effect. Late last year, the United Steelworkers union was locked in a bitter dispute with Goodyear over a new contract. The union made a short attack video highlighting what it said were the hazards of buying tires made by replacement workers.

The 30-second video spot showed a montage of black-and-white photos of auto accidents. As a sport-utility vehicle flips over and careens through the air, a question appears on-screen: “What tires do you plan to buy?”

The video — posted onto YouTube and other video sites — generated thousands of hits and lots of bad press. The result? Goodyear was forced back to the bargaining table.

If a Fortune 200 company like Goodyear can be influenced by bad press from an Internet video, imagine how a presidential campaign would react.

Picking the president — the candidates Click a name below to visit that candidate’s MSNBC page • Joe Biden                 • Sam Brownback     • Hillary Clinton          • Chris Dodd • John Edwards         • Rudy Giuliani           • Mike Gravel              • Duncan Hunter • Mike Huckabee        • Dennis Kucinich     • John McCain           • Barack Obama • Ron Paul                    • Bill Richardson      • Mitt Romney            • Tom Tancredo • Fred Thompson To subscribe to a candidate page RSS feed, click here.

MORE FROM RUDY GIULIANI NEWS

Rudy Giuliani News Section Front

Giuliani drops out of GOP race Newsweek: Giuliani's last stand? Is Giuliani winning over voters in Fla.? Newsweek: What's next for Huckabee and Giuliani Crossing Giuliani often had a price Giuliani switches focus to economy Winner-take-all: Bonus or bust for Giuliani? Mercurio: Turning chaos into comeback Giuliani pins his hopes on Florida Daily Nightly: Will Giuliani’s Florida strategy work? Rudy Giuliani News Section Front   Add Rudy Giuliani News headlines to your news reader: