Hotline After Dark -- Second Acts

Judith Giuliani proves there are second acts in life with her interview on "Hannity & Colmes" last night:

Rudy and Judith Giuliani were on "Hannity & Colmes" last night:

J. Giuliani, asked to tell people about herself: "Well, I have never been in politics before ... so this is all completely new to me. And I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania. My parents were married 55 years this year. And I trained as registered nurse in a town not too far away from the house I grew up in. And I spent nearly a decade of my life working as a single mom. I struggled financially during that period of time. And I worked and went to New York University both at night and on the weekends. Sometimes I had to take my daughter with me when I couldn't afford a babysitter. And eventually I landed a job at Bristol-Myers Squibb. So by the time I met Rudy, I was one of the top managers in the country. And so I'm an optimist; I know that, through hard work, everyone can prevail."

FNC's Hannity: "That's the American story."

R. Giuliani, on J. Giuliani calling him during his speech: "I've become technologically more proficient. I figured out how to put it on vibrate. She helped me put it on vibrate. If anybody is offended by it, won't do it again."

Hannity: "It was interesting, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which was pretty early in your relationship, I found it interesting, I read that you made a spreadsheet, as a nurse, for the mayor. Explain the spreadsheet. What were you trying to convey to him?"

J. Giuliani: "I did. Well, as you probably know, there are a lot of different options with prostate cancer, and so the options can become extremely confusing. I often refer to them as the 'ologies,' oncology, hematology, immunology, serology. And Rudy is a really smart guy. But these become a bit confusing at a point, and so we consulted with physicians in all of these areas of expertise. And I put together a Lotus spreadsheet to help us make the decision."

More J. Giuliani: "September 11th was the most horrific day of my entire life. One of the things that many people don't realize ... is that Rudy was trapped in the basement of 75 Barclay Street for some time that morning. So I could have lost Rudy on that day. ... I joined him later that morning at the temporary command center at the police academy. ... And Rudy, of course, being Rudy, put me to work, and I was able to make some phone calls for him with different hospital contacts that I had. And then he asked me, with the wonderful team that he has at the community assistance unit, to help with the family center. So I got to work with those heroic families for the next several months, and I will never forget the sacrifice that those families made for our country."

R. Giuliani: "She helped with the family center. She also helped with the Twin Towers charity. She was on the board of the Twin Towers charity. She's done a lot of work in philanthropy."

Hannity: "That's $200 million you raised in this charity."

R. Giuliani: "It was $220 million. And every single penny went to the families. The administrative costs were raised separately, and we kept them very low, because she and others got a lot of donations. But every single penny went to the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, families. So if you gave me $1,000, I could guarantee you that money is going into the hands of one of those families to put their child in college. The administrative cost, the lawyers, the accountants, the people that have to do all of the administrative work, we would raise that separately. And it was all very, very small amounts. But, I mean, that was her idea to do it that way."

Asked about the Barbara Walter's interview, where they said Judith would sit in on Cabinet meetings, Judith Giuliani: "I'm not a political person, and I have no desire to sit in on cabinet meetings. And I promise you, I'm not going to morph into a politician."

Asked if she thought what her life would be like if Giuliani gets the nod, J. Giuliani: "It wouldn't be any different than what I do now, which is really just support Rudy, and travel with him, and help him whenever he needs me to."

R. Giuliani, asked about conservatives considering going third party: "Everybody has a right to their position. And people who are religious, the religious right, social conservatives, everyone else has a very important part in this process, and they have a right to their opinion. I would urge on them, however, is take a look at the whole candidate. Take a look at the whole package. Single issue voting is -- look, people can do it. And if this is so important to them, and it's just one issue, and they feel that's it, that's one way to look at it. If I'm elected, as opposed to Hillary Clinton or any one of the Democrats, you're going to have an absolutely different court system. I mean, I will appoint strict constructionist judges. If a Democrat gets elected, it will go far left. If I get elected, it will be a strict constructionist."

Asked if he would have a litmus test for SCOTUS justices, R. Giuliani: "The litmus test would be they have to be a strict
constructionist."

R. Giuliani, on HRC: "Honestly and most respectfully, I don't know Hillary's experience. She's never run a city; she's never run a state; she's never run a business; she's never met a payroll; she's never been responsible for the safety and security of millions of people, much less even hundreds of people. So I'm trying to figure out where the experience is here. It would seem to me that, in a time of difficult problems and war, we don't want on-the-job training."

R. Giuliani, asked if he worries about the dangers of being POTUS: "I've been dealing with this a long time. You know, the first year I was U.S. attorney ... the Sicilian mafia, I think, offered an $800,000 contract to have me killed. The FBI caught them, settled it, et cetera. Toward the end of all of the work I did as U.S. attorney, prosecuting hundreds of mafia members, all sorts of drug dealers, whatever, another organized criminal put out a contract on me. I had put him in jail for 100 years and he took it personally. He put out a contract on me for only $400,000. So I thought, this was kind of an insult. ... But the reality is, I've dealt with this all of my life" (FNC, 10/16).

KNOCKING THEIR SOX OFF

And John McCain played "Hardball" last night:

MSNBC's Matthews: "You're the only Republican candidate at the top of the list who's had military background. ... Do you think you have an edge on knowledge in this area?"

McCain: "Oh, there's no doubt about it. We've been talking about a person who was mayor of a big city and did an admirable job and a person who was governor of a state. And Fred Thompson had much more limited experience in the Senate. But the point is that I have the qualifications. I have the knowledge. I've been involved in decision-making on every major conflict that we've been in in the last 20 years, and I know the issues. I was the only one who's running who severely criticized Rumsfeld and that failed strategy and advocated the one that's succeeding now."

On the "real" GOPer battle: "I think we all run on our record. I am a proud conservative Republican. Are there other conservative Republicans in the race? I don't lay claim to the mantle. I do lay claim to the strength of my credentials and knowledge and background on national security issues, which I think is the transcendent challenge of our time, radical Islamic extremism. I'm the most prepared, I believe. At least my qualifications, I hope, have earned me the voters' consideration."

Asked if he can beat Mitt Romney in NH: "Oh, there's no doubt about that. We're seeing a lot of renewed enthusiasm in the town hall meetings. I had one the other night. I was very nervous about it. It was during a Red Sox game, and we still had a big turnout" (MSNBC, 10/16). [EMILY GOODIN]