http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/may/29/pundit_rudys_9_11_performance_gives_him_claim_to_combat_experiencePundit: Rudy's 9/11 Performance Gives Him Claim To "Combat Experience"
By Greg Sargent | bio
Okay, here's a bit more on this whole question of whether the media and pundits will aggressively point out that Rudy's performance on 9/11 does not in any way, shape or form constitute anything resembling national security experience.
A commenter below points to an astonishing moment on Keith Olbermann's May 16 show about the GOP debate that captures the dynamic perfectly. Olbermann's guest, pundit John Harwood, a senior writer for The Wall Street Journal and CNBC's chief Washington correspondent, offered the following on Rudy:
HARWOOD: Well look, Keith, I think those answers by both McCain and Giuliani help both men perhaps in the primary and in the general election for different reasons. McCain`s core message is toughness, and that I`m tough enough that I can go against my party on this issue. Why? Because I`ve been in combat. I`ve been tortured myself, as you mentioned.
Rudy Giuliani also has a bit of a claim to combat in a different way, because he was on the ground in 9/11.Even allowing the speaker here a bit of oratory license, we nonetheless feel compelled to point it out: Rudy doesn't have combat experience. He doesn't have national security experience, either. He walked through the smoke and dust on 9/11 and held a bunch of press conferences at which he uttered a bunch of emotional and reassuring phrases. But the actual recovery effort he ran, while praised by some, has attracted a whole bunch of criticism, too.
Again: We're singling this punditry out because it's a reminder that if the media, and Rudy's rivals, cede him the aura of national security experience based on nothing more than the fact that he ran New York City on 9/11, he stands a much better chance of becoming President.
Update: And let's not forget NBC political director Chuck Todd's repeated assertion -- with no trace of irony -- that Rudy "owns 9/11."
Update II: Turns out Media Matters was way ahead of us on this, flagging it, you know, back when it happened.