The Giuliani campaign put out a press release today heralding its acquisition of Joe Allbaugh’s services as a “senior adviser” on campaign strategy and homeland security. Allbaugh, you’ll remember, was once a member of the so-called Iron Triangle — the trio of top advisers to then-Gov. George W. Bush in Texas (the other two were Karl Rove and Karen Hughes). Unlike Hughes and Rove, who were rewarded with top jobs in Bush’s White House, Allbaugh, who had served as campaign manager for Bush in the 2000 race, landed somewhat conspicuously (and ignominiously) not at the White House but as the head of FEMA. Luckily for him, Allbaugh left FEMA to start up a private security consulting firm before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in the late summer of 2005. Unluckily for the citizens of New Orleans and the president of the United States, it was Allbaugh who recruited his friend, Mike “Brownie” Brown, to FEMA and who ensured that Brown would succeed him as the agency’s director.
The press release doesn’t mention any of that. But it does include this quote from Allbaugh:
“Rudy Giuliani is the only candidate who will keep America on offense in the Terrorists’ War on Us,” said Joe Allbaugh. “The leadership he showed after 9/11 was an inspiration not only to New Yorkers but to the country. He knows what it takes to keep America safe, and as President, he will ensure that our country never goes back on defense in this war.”
Notice how “Terrorists’ War on Us” is capitalized, as if though it were a recognized, proper name similar to, say, World War II? Subtle, huh? You gotta love that.
