Giuliani/Gingrich WSJ/Iraq op-ed

On Friday, Rudy Giulaini and Newt Gingrich published an op-ed on Iraq in the Wall Street Journal. This was very interesting from several perspectives.

First, Rudy misplayed the Iraq issue. He came out with a statement on the President’s surge proposal relatively late. And he has not demonstrated any particular opinions on the subject. Has he even publicly gone to Iraq?

Second, the lost binder and lackluster fundraising have made his campaign seem a little … weak. Is he genuinely serious about running?

Third, there has been some skepticism that a mayor is ready to be President. By showing the applicability of his experience as mayor to today’s most important policy questions, he begins to address this question in a serious way.

Fourth, Rudy does have the potential to be an "ideas" candidate. He has done a bunch of innovative things. With Newt co-authoring this piece, Rudy’s ideas — and not just the ones in the article — get an implicit endorsement from Newt, who is clearly the leading ideas man in the Republican Party.

All in all, smart.