May 11, 2007 2:51
Rude-y
He could've probably gotten away with tap-dancing his way through the abortion issue, but I somehow don't think any campaign -- R or D -- could weather this:
OLIN–Last weekend Deb and Jerry VonSprecken of Olin received a call from former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s campaign office asking them if they would be interested in holding a campaign rally on May 4, after she had donated to his campaign.“We thought it would be an honor and agreed,” said Jerry.
After agreeing to host Rudy's rally, Deb and Jerry Von Sprecken then set about doing a bunch of work to organize the event. They underwent a security check and called a bunch of local friends and acquaintances -- and even the local sheriff and fire department -- and proudly put the pieces in place for their rally.
But then...
On Tuesday Deb received a call from Giuliani’s Des Moines office and was asked to call New York.“They wanted to know our assets,” she revealed, and added that she and Jerry have a modest 80 acre farm and raise cattle.
Later she received a call from Tony Delgado at the Des Monies location.
“Tony said, ‘I’m sorry, you aren’t worth a million dollars and he is campaigning on the Death Tax right now.’ then he said they weren’t going to be able to come,” Deb continued.
The Death Tax is a federal version of the Iowa Inheritance Tax.
The VonSpreckens then called Delgado back and told him how upset they were that the event had been cancelled, how much work they had done and that they had been expecting 75-100 people at their farm.
“I invited him into my home,” Deb said of Giuliani, fighting back tears.
The local paper with the original story has been overloaded, but Greg Sargent (again!) has the goods.
UPDATE: The editor of the Anamosa Eureka-Journal says the original piece is back up and she stands behind it:
I am Michelle Phillips, the editor of the Anamosa Journal-Eureka. I want to add that the story was written exactly as it was told to me by the VonSpreckens and is posted on our website.I have spoken to our webmaster and she has increased the bandwith so it can be viewed at anamosaje.com
I am sure that neither Mr. Giuliani or his spin doctors thought that this would go beyond Jones County. I myself am overwhelmed by the number of sites that have picked this up.
I also want to say that Anamosa is the county seat and very politically charged. We have already had several presidential hopefuls come through town, and I am grateful that they have taken the time to include Anamosa ontheir campaign stops.
About Swampland
Ana Marie Cox is the founding editor of Wonkette and the author of the novel Dog Days. Read more
Joe Klein is TIME's political columnist and author of six books, most recently Politics Lost. Read more
Karen Tumulty is TIME's National Political Correspondent and has also covered the White House and Congress. Read more
Jay Carney is TIME's Washington bureau chief. He has covered the Clinton and Bush 43 White Houses as well as Congress. Read more
Jay Newton-Small has covered the Bush 43 White House and Congress since the DeLay era. Read more
Michael Scherer is a TIME Washington bureau correspondent covering the 2008 presidential campaign. Read more
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Reader Comments (53)
And it's kind of a side issue, but a couple needs a lot more than a million dollars to be subject to the federal estate tax ("Death Tax"). The current limit is $2 million per person so with some minimal tax planning a couple won't need to pay any estate tax unless they have to leave at least $4 million before it kicks in.
It's at 45% of the excess and any donations to charity can be deducted. E.g. say a couple has $10 million and leaves half to charity and half to their kids. The estate tax bill would be 450K.
Posted by Crust | May 11, 2007 2:58 PM
He's America's mayor, and he protected all the people in the World Trade Center on 9/11.
Without him, we'd all be dead by now, our pelts tanned into human prayer rugs.
Posted by American | May 11, 2007 2:59 PM
For more fun with Rudy check out the "Lord of the Rings" story. Giuliani very strangely ended up with a collection of $200K worth of Yankees World Series rings for $16K:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/lord-of-rings-by-digby-i-think-rudy.html
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0719,barrett,76566,2.html
Posted by Crust | May 11, 2007 3:01 PM
Still more fun for Giuliani: The Pope's recent call in Mexico for pro-choice Catholic politicians to be excommunicated. By the way, is there any issue Giuliani agrees with the Catholic Church on? He's pro-choice, pro-Iraq War, pro-death penalty, pro-gay rights, on his third wife...
In fairness, I don't particularly like this line of attack. But since the press lapped it up for Kerry in 2004, will they apply a similar standard for Saint Rudy this go round? I didn't think so.
Posted by Crust | May 11, 2007 3:02 PM
Of course, this all pales in significance compared to the cosmic significance of Edwards' haircut. Somehow I doubt that Politico will "reluctantly" (actual quote re E's hair) feature their eighth story (actual count, so far anyway) on the topic on their front page. Are media is so liberally biased.
Posted by Crust | May 11, 2007 3:05 PM
I cannot imagine the amount of work this couple put into getting everything ready, the pride they felt in being selected, their concern about everything being good enough for Mr. Giuliani, their efforts to make things "just so" -- just to have it come to naught because they don't have enough jack in the bank.
Disgraceful
Posted by Louhawk | May 11, 2007 3:05 PM
I think my ungrammatical
"Are media is so liberally biased."
was an unintentional weird fusion of a sarcastic statement
"Our media is so liberally biased."
and a sarcastic question
"Are our media so liberally biased?"
And with that, I'll stop hogging this comment thread.
Posted by Crust | May 11, 2007 3:09 PM
At the rate the front-runners are self-destructing, I'd say the Republican most likely to win the nomination is whoever has the LEAST name recognition. I refer of course good old whats-his-name....
Posted by Paul Dirks | May 11, 2007 3:10 PM
Republican pundit and former Reagan speechwriter Pat Buchanan on Giuliani:
"A Rudy nomination would bring the culture war right down onto the floor of the Republican convention. For Rudy is not only pro-choice on abortion, he has supported affirmative action, favored amnesty for illegals, turned New York into a sanctuary city where the NYPD was forbidden to ask arrestees their immigration status, has championed gay rights, marched in gay pride parades -- once not all that far behind the big float of the North American Man/Boy Love Association. He is thrice married, and he used to bring his main squeeze into Gracie Mansion while still married to the mother of his son. When she threw him out, he was taken in by a couple of gay friends. And Rudy is now suiting up to lead the family values party into battle?"
Posted by global yokel | May 11, 2007 3:28 PM
Please, don't miss Rudy to attend NYC fund raiser hosted by the Donald. Will Rudy wear a World Series Ring?
If you guys check the map Olin is not that far from Dyersville, home of the Field of Dreams. Only about 40+miles of 'bad road'.
Posted by linda | May 11, 2007 3:31 PM
For those who were looking earlier for a cheap shot about a Republican candidate doing something every other candidate Republican or Democrat does, here you've got your example. Every campaign picks their locations to fit the message of the day and they back out of locations because they don't fit the message and people get unhappy.
Posted by Anonymous | May 11, 2007 3:35 PM
I am Michelle Phillips, the editor of the Anamosa Journal-Eureka. I want to add that the story was written exactly as it was told to me by the VonSpreckens and is posted on our website.
I have spoken to our webmaster and she has increased the bandwith so it can be viewed at anamosaje.com
I am sure that neither Mr. Giuliani or his spin doctors thought that this would go beyond Jones County. I myself am overwhelmed by the number of sites that have picked this up.
I also want to say that Anamosa is the county seat and very politically charged. We have already had several presidential hopefuls come through town, and I am grateful that they have taken the time to include Anamosa ontheir campain stops.
Posted by ajeeditor | May 11, 2007 3:42 PM
Rudy also picked a location centered between 5 counties that have nearly 1/4 of the state's population: Johnson (Iowa City), Linn (Cedar Rapids), Blackhawk (Waterloo/Cedar Falls), Scott (Davenport/Bettendorf) and Dubuque (Dubuque).
Way to piss off the Hawkeye state, Rudy.
Posted by Louhawk | May 11, 2007 3:50 PM
Let's not pick on Rudy. He's trying to find a nice family farm with a net worth over $4 million. You have any idea how hard it is to find that?
Posted by Anonymous | May 11, 2007 3:57 PM
I agree with Anonymous....again.
Posted by Tim | May 11, 2007 3:58 PM
It's not so much that Rudy was trying to find a good photo-Op. Everyone does that. It's the way he got these people extremely excited about it and then snatched it away. Just came off as being a little prickish.
Posted by Anonymous | May 11, 2007 4:01 PM
"I am sure that neither Mr. Giuliani or his spin doctors thought that this would go beyond Jones County."
Then they were arrogant, or fools, or both.
That's the modern Republican Party leadership for you. Conservatives without Conscience, indeed.
Posted by liberalrob | May 11, 2007 4:27 PM
Remember, being a Republican means never having to say you're sorry....
I hope the von Spreckens re-enroll as Democrats.
Rudy's advance people are morons. Glad to see this story didn't get buried on page A14.
Posted by Andy from Maine | May 11, 2007 4:36 PM
Yes, everybody picks and chooses the correct spot for speeches. However, I doubt candidates pick a spot and inform the people. Then let the people spend a lot of time and money getting everything just so for the event. Then canceling the event, because the people aren't rich enough. Basically, these people weren't worth common courtesy because they didn't have the cash.
Posted by JordanT | May 11, 2007 4:49 PM
"By the way, is there any issue Giuliani agrees with the Catholic Church on?"
Yes, the Church would like to ban ferrets.
Posted by TomT | May 11, 2007 5:05 PM
by global yokel
May 11, 2007
Pat didn't hammer Rudy on his association with Kerik and his alienation from the NYFD?
Posted by ama | May 11, 2007 5:22 PM
Ms. Cox,
Wow! You're only a day late and a dollar short
with this incredible story! Another GOP candidate
proves to be completely unfit to be president!
Yesterday, Mr. Romney goes because he doesn't care
for France! Today, Mr. Giuliani is toast because
his staff makes a mistake! Still, neither of these
awesome displays of lack of character is as
significant as Mr. Edward's haircuts.
It appears that you are going for a pander a day
to win over your liberal readers.
Also, good luck in your tireless quest to replace
Ms. Sally Quinn.
Posted by PooleBowman | May 11, 2007 5:37 PM
here's what's wrong with your post, ana
-- you did not credit the Anamosa paper at the TOP of the post. credit first.
-- you did not check it out yourself. you waited for Greg Sargent to check it out and linked to him. would it have been so hard for you to check it out yourself? Is your job really just to piggyback on other people's reporting? pick up the phone. it's not that hard.
Posted by eyeball | May 11, 2007 5:38 PM
Do you really think that this is much worse than Obama's MySpace wars?
Posted by Nikolay | May 11, 2007 6:37 PM
Rudy should cancel his campaign immediately, while he still has a shred of dignity.
Posted by Susan Geldof | May 11, 2007 8:14 PM
This is worse than rubbing Donald Trump's face in your boobs.
Posted by Susan Geldof | May 11, 2007 8:16 PM
The only Republican worth voting for is Fred Thompson! If he runs he gets my vote no matter who runs against him. I wouldn't even vote for Edwards if he was running against Bush. So if Edwards is the Democratic nomination I'll vote Republican as log as it's not Rudy. I'm hopefully voting for Hillary or Obama if any of the current Republican useless line up gets nominated.
Posted by clayto | May 12, 2007 1:56 AM
St. John of McCain has rushed in to comfort the woman treated so shabbily by Mayor "multi-millionaires only" Rudy. Even though the act was solely that of Ruddy G, McCain apologized, on behalf of all politicians.
Posted by Radical Internets Extremist | May 12, 2007 9:06 AM
What's your point, Cox?
Why should Rudy G. have to covort with low lifes who can't succeed?
He's working to keep our freedoms safe--from terrorists and taxes. If those people want him to succeed and help us all then they're going to have to get over this. I hate the portrayal of them as "modest," when they clearly misrepresented themselves and fed their egos on trying to hijack his capaign event. I hope they've learned that we are all fighting the death tax by whatever means necessary.
Posted by R. Sterling | May 12, 2007 2:37 PM
Silly suckster, scandals are for Dems!
Posted by Aaron S. Veenstra | May 12, 2007 2:43 PM
Bye, Rudy. Of course, your close personal relationship with the guy who trysted in an love nest overlooking the smoking ruins of the
twin towers didn't help, either.
Posted by Karen | May 12, 2007 3:01 PM
The only reason NY streets were cleaned up is because Rudy gave all the homeless a free bus pass to SF...because SF cares about the homeless, now SF is overwhelmed!! Thanks Rudy, you sure know how to clean up a problem...by handing it over to another state....Jacka**!!
Posted by Amber | May 12, 2007 3:40 PM
A very under-reported story. Thanks for blogging it.
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