Now that Rudy Giuliani has edged into the Republican presidential candidate sweepstakes, his staff is grappling with how to raise his national visibility. After all, the horrors of 9/11 when the candidate displayed his gravitas as New York mayor were more than five years ago. On election day 2008, it will have been seven years.
Several senior staff members believe they have the answer to-raising the former mayor’s profile: another nasty, hair-pulling, crockery-smashing, throw-someone–or-something-down-the-stairs divorce.
“In eight months or so as the primary elections begin, if we could get going with another divorce just like the last one, I guarantee you that Rudy would be getting more publicity than McCain, Romney and Cheney put together,” said a senior staff member who asked not to be identified.
“If it’s the right kind of spit-in-your-eye divorce, Rudy will quickly come to be a beloved figure. Every patriotic American will be seeing the real leadership qualities that would make Rudy Giuliani a great president both here at home on the domestic front and in foreign policy as well.”
Giuliani’s messy love life kept New York tabloid readers enthralled for a long period beginning in 2000 when his extra-marital romance with Judith Nathan was splashed across front pages. Giuliani squired Nathan around the city so often that the mayor’s wife obtained a court order barring Nathan from attending city functions held at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence. When the divorce was final, Mrs. Giuliani received an alimony payment of $1 million a year.
Some political analysts agree that an ugly divorce in the midst of a campaign could be a positive for the candidate.
Edward Higginbotham, a professor of psychology at North Central Cincinnati University who has additional appointments to the political science and sociology faculties, believes American voters are ready for a presidential divorce.
“I think a divorce could be a positive even if it begins during the campaign and extends into the new president’s first term,” Higginbotham said.
“My studies have found that if the candidate and his spouse reconcile and split and reconcile again two and even three times during the course of the campaign, this tempestuous love story will become a daily soap opera and will win the candidate a huge following, particularly among the slacker mom demographic,” he said.
Dr. Joyce, a widely followed sex therapist and marriage counselor to the rich and powerful, agrees with the divorce is good school of thought.
“You must remember that Rudy is now 63 and that the rigors of a presidential campaign can take their physical and emotional toll,” Dr. Joyce said. “But a bitter, ugly divorce can be quite energizing, particularly if there are periods of reconciliation. A worn out, jaded older man can suddenly blossom and go on to scale great heights.”