Reelect Rudy
Four more years for Hizzoner.

By John J. Miller & Ramesh Ponnuru
September 14, 2001 12:00 p.m.

s there any doubt that the great public performer in the days following the September 11 attacks has been Rudy Giuliani? He has demonstrated remarkable leadership during the awful hours since Tuesday morning — and in every way possible, from his rhetoric ("more than we can bear") to his presence (walking around the wreckage in N.Y.F.D. duds). His somber confidence is exactly what New York City needs — and it's what the rest of the country needs, too. The man who was born to be mayor is a comfort to all Americans this week.

What a shame that he must leave office in just a few months. Every so often a figure comes along who is a walking advertisement against term limits. Conservatives skeptical about term limits — so popular in their ranks — often have made a two-word argument against them: Henry Hyde. Giuliani may have belonged in that category for what he accomplished before Tuesday as mayor; he surely belongs there now.

So why not let him run again? The unworthies who seek to replace him, from four ultraliberal Democrats to faux Republican Michael Bloomberg, are pathetic pols compared to this urban statesman. They show that some leaders simply can't be replaced.

And perhaps he shouldn't be replaced. If New Yorkers want Rudy for four more years — and assuming Hizzoner wants to keep serving — they should start demanding it now, while there's still time to see that it happens.