Rudy dismisses union’s ‘Swift Boat’-style attack ad

Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign moved quickly yesterday to blunt what it sees as a sensationalist Swift Boat-style attack by a firefighters’ union.

Seeking to avoid the mistake of delay that so hurt the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004, the former New York City mayor’s campaign went on the offensive before the attack was even formally released, dismissing the union as politically motivated.

{mosads}Before the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) was able to release a video in the afternoon full of angry testimony belittling Giuliani’s support of New York City firefighters, the campaign fired off releases and held a press conference.

“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that the IAFF union bosses have once again taken the low road in a move clearly out of step with their membership,” retired New York City firefighter Lee Ielpi said in a statement from the campaign.

The IAFF’s attack is a 13-minute DVD with union members and relatives of firefighters who died in the attack on the World Trade Center harshly criticizing Giuliani’s actions leading up to, during and after the attacks.

The IAFF said the DVD was created to inform its members and help them make a sound decision about whom to support for president.

But the recording was leaked to numerous media organizations before being posted on the union website — a move reminiscent of the 2004 Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacks on Kerry.

The IAFF backed Kerry in 2004, helping salvage a listing campaign in the primaries. IAFF President Harold Schaitberger was a constant fixture behind Kerry as he took the stage in Iowa, New Hampshire and other arenas to claim victory on his way to winning the nomination.

Schaitberger has said before that he and the organization are not engaged in a vendetta against Giuliani, but simply trying to educate their members.

Schaitberger and Giuliani clashed in the weeks before the 2004 New Hampshire primary, when they were in the Granite State at campaign events.

Before the release of yesterday’s DVD, which was also to be posted on YouTube and GoogleVideo, the Giuliani campaign put out a prebuttal, first on Tuesday night and then following up with documents outlining what the campaign said was the mayor’s unending support for firefighters.

The first blow from Team Giuliani came in a release mocking the union as the “International Association of Partisan Politics” and showing pictures of Schaitberger standing with Kerry. The campaign pointed out that the IAFF has supported Democratic presidential candidates since 1988.

Giuliani’s campaign also pointed out that Schaitberger has held a number of roles in Democratic organizations and has contributed financially only to Democratic candidates.

“In 2008, I expect these same union bosses to endorse [Democratic Sens.] Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Barack Obama (Ill.) or [former Sen.] John Edwards (N.C.), so today’s comments are just a first step in that process,” Ielpi said in the release.
“Fortunately, rank-and-file firefighters know the difference between politics and leadership.”

Howard Safir, former New York City Fire Department commissioner, said firefighters across the country “are very supportive of Rudy and what he did.”

He added, “Firefighter unions are not firefighters. This is bogus stuff. This is not Swift Boat.”

The DVD, entitled “Urban Legend,” is not the union’s first attempt to damage Giuliani’s campaign.

In March, the union prepared a draft letter to its members explaining why hizzoner would not be invited to the group’s presidential forum in Washington. Although the original letter was never sent to union members, copies were released to
the media.

A campaign aide told The Hill yesterday they are not concerned these attacks will fester, adding that the images most people have seen and remember are those of Giuliani in the streets of Manhattan in a leadership role immediately after the terrorist attacks.

“No one can take away the power of those images,” the aide said.