The trouble with Rudy

Generally speaking, I like Rudy Giuliani. One of the reasons is that he seems competent. Another is that he's not a pure partisan, and I think American politics could use a good helping of people like Rudy and Obama, who at least seem to be able to talk civilly about their opponents. Unfortunately, I don't think he has a chance in a presidential race, even if he can get the Republican nomination. Andrew Sullivan has a Sunday Times column, "They wrote off resilient Rudy a little too soon", discussing the merits of his potential candidacy. It's a fairly positive assessment, but there's one small thing in the article that got me thinking:

He has also dressed in drag on several occasions. You can YouTube a clip of him in full drag being courted by Donald Trump in a department store. New Yorkers loved it. But it doesn’t go down too well in South Carolina.

I'd seen that clip before and not thought much about it, other than Rudy makes a pretty awful-looking woman. But now, upon reflection, I think the problem goes far beyond South Carolina. I don't personally have a problem with it at all; as a fellow straight man who has, for charity, appeared in -- if not drag, then something akin to it -- I too have been photographed in attire that one might call 'non-presidential'. I think it's silly in principle, but there is something to the idea of seeming presidential. Will Rudy's drag appearances hurt him in seeking the nomination? Probably, he will be mocked. We'll probably all get tired of seeing the replays. So can he possibly be taken seriously as a president? Think about all the times you've seen protesters, whether in America or elsewhere, demonstrating against Bush. Or Clinton. Think about all the caricatures and effigies you've seen. Now imagine they were wearing dresses and horrible makeup. I just think Rudy, and America, would never see the end of it.