RUDY'S GOT BEEF: Giuliani raised eyebrows recently when he visited Geno's Steaks in Philadelphia. The cheese-steak joint was thrown into the national spotlight last year when owner Joey Vento put up a sign telling patrons, "This Is America: When ordering, please speak English." Since Rudy Giuliani's GOP rivals have attacked him for making New York a "sanctuary city" for undocumented immigrants, a little cred from the Minuteman crowd could be just what he needs. The visit also highlighted a part of Giuliani's past he dearly wants to preserve: his unwavering support of law enforcement. Geno's has long been a shrine to the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police. Most provocative is the slogan employees wear on their shirts: "Officer Danny Faulkner was murdered by Mumia Abu-Jamal who shouldn't be in an 8 x 10 foot cell...He should be six feet closer to hell." From its crackdown on jaywalkers to the shootings of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond, Giuliani's NYPD was frequently embroiled in controversy, but Rudy stood behind it. His visit to Geno's may have been intended to remind GOP voters of his law-and-order bona fides. If he can ride this message to the White House, Geno's could be his Bob Jones University. MATTHEW BLAKE
THEY SAID WHAT? "My job is a decision-making job. And as a result, I make a lot of decisions.... I delegate to good people. I always tell Condi Rice, 'I want to remind you, Madam Secretary, who has the PhD and who was the C student. And I want to remind you who the adviser is and who the President is.'... I got a lot of PhD types and smart people around me who come into the Oval Office and say, 'Mr. President, here's what's on my mind.' And I listen carefully to their advice. But having gathered the device [sic], I decide, you know, I say, 'This is what we're going to do.' And it's 'Yes, sir, Mr. President.' And then we get after it, implement policy." --President George W. Bush
to a crowd in Lancaster, Pa., October 3
"I intend to win in November 2008, and then I intend to build a centrist coalition in this country that is like what I remember when I was growing up." --Senator Hillary Clinton to the Washington Post, October 10 (Hillary grew up as a Goldwater girl.)
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