When I saw that Rudy Giuliani has a London fundraiser scheduled for next week, I wondered if the rare overseas jaunt by a candidate in the middle of a hot race might include a trip to Iraq. Every once in a while, Giuliani gets a little grief for not surveying the situation on the ground in Iraq for himself:
MR. WALLACE: Mayor Giuliani, I’d like you first of all to respond to Senator McCain’s comments that for all you did in New York on 9/11, it doesn’t translate into national security experience. And also, last May, when I asked you why you have never been to Iraq, you said you would like to go by the end of this year. Are you in fact going to make that deadline?
MR. GIULIANI: I hope so. I hope we’re able to go. I hope we can do it without creating a great deal of publicity.
I checked with Rudy’s people, and they say next week’s trip won’t include a stop in Iraq.