Get Ready for the Rudy Giuliani Anecdote, 3,2,1…

Rudy Giuliani just came in on top of a national poll of favorite politicians, with Hillary coming in 8th. The first result is not that big of a surprise: Giuliani wowed the country with his leadership in New York after 9/11. The second result was even less surprising: Hillary comes with more baggage than an Amtrak car, and she’s far more likely to derail.
Several years back - I believe it was the year the California Angels beat the Yankees and went on to win the World Series – Rudy Giuliani came through town as part of a book tour, and stopped at the Convention Center for a press conference.
I had my Tribune press credentials, and I wanted to go. It was the history of the man – the images of Rudy Giuliani walking around the dusty streets of New York that horrible morning. Pictures that will be etched in all our minds, for the rest of our lives. How about the press conferences the next few days where he was so strong as an individual? This is a guy who went after big-time Mafia types as a prosecutor in New York, but nobody could have foreseen the emotional strength he showed talking to the nation those first few days. Just the endurance was unbelievable.
So it wasn’t surprising that when he walked into the conference room at the Portland Convention Center, he made quite an impression. He lived up to the role he'll play in the history books. The guy had the gravitas and presence of ten men. I’ve also been in a couple of rooms with George W. and George seems like a little kid in comparison to what we were witnessing from Giuliani.
All of the questions were about 9/11 and he answered them with the same steady resolve as he had those first days. Then it was my turn to ask a question. I stood up and said, “You are closely associated with one of the biggest disasters in recent history, so tell me, what happened to the Yankees this year?”
Microseconds before asking that, I was pondering whether or not this was a good idea. In fact, I was trembling thinking about how wrong this could go. The only thing I had going for me, was that I knew he had a sense of humor from seeing him on Letterman.
Sure enough, he laughed a good laugh, and gave a funny answer that was broadcast on KATU at 11p.m. although without my question.
He had clearly gotten a kick out of it, and when the press conference was finished he walked over, still grinning, and we shook hands. It felt like I was shaking hands with history.