In this really good article in the NYT today, this whole Kerik/ Guiliani issue is explored in depth. (link...)

I've always felt Guliani's ties to Bernie Kerik, the man who made the Mayor godfather to his children, will come back to haunt Guiliani. In spite of all his feigned innocence about this man's character, it won't take much probing to show he knew exactly what kind of man Kerik was when he started pushing him up the political ladder. When he named Kerik as police comissioner, Guiliani knew the man didn't even have the required college education, but he didn't care.

“Too many leaders overlook candidates with unusual résumés because of a failure of nerve,” Mr. Giuliani wrote. “By the time I appointed Bernie Kerik, I had hired so many people that I was immune to such criticisms.”

Immune? Kerik is a scoundrel and Guiliani knew it, yet he advocated for him to be named head of the Police in Iraq. Special interests? These politicans have only one--their own special interests--which in Guiliani's terms means loyalty to friends no matter how criminal they turn out to be.

“Rudy can fall for people big time, and sometimes qualifications are secondary to loyalty,” said Fran Reiter, a former Giuliani deputy mayor Mr. Kerik followed Mr. Giuliani downstairs to a dimly lighted room. There waited Mr. Giuliani’s boyhood chum Peter J. Powers, who was first deputy mayor, and other aides. One by one, they pulled Mr. Kerik close and kissed his cheek."

Now doesn't that present a rosy picture?

“I wonder if he noticed how much becoming part of his team resembled becoming part of a mafia family,” Mr. Kerik wrote.“

Rudi's Mafia intrigue won't go unnoticed in this campaign either. Is he really an enemy of crime or does his loyalty allow him to overlook criminals he happens to be friends with?

It's a valid question, and I think voters will be asking it. Guliani's "loyalty" in this case may be the very thing that brings him down.