I’m Only a Little Bit Behind

Rudy offers up the best case for him–he’ll lose by less:

As evidence for the claim that he is the Democrats’ “worst nightmare,” the Giuliani campaign points to calculations by Real Clear Politics showing that in head-to-head matchups in national polls, Hillary Clinton is an average of four points ahead of Giuliani but nine points ahead of Fred Thompson and 11.7 points ahead of Mitt Romney.

A typical supporter makes it all so clear:

Giuliani’s successes as mayor of New York City, especially his performance immediately after the World Trade Center bombings in 2001, was a popular subject at the gathering.

“It was a toilet and now it’s not,” said Rita Thompson, who on this year’s 9/11 protested a Muslim parade in Manhattan. “How could (Michael) Bloomberg let that go on?” she wondered of the current mayor. “You can bet Giuliani wouldn’t have.”

Here’s a description of the parade:

NEW YORK — Hundreds of Muslims chanted and waved flags from around the globe as they marched Sunday in the 22nd annual American Muslim Day Parade. About 20 protesters shouted anti-Muslim slogans from behind police barricades along Manhattan’s Madison Avenue and sought to link the marchers to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A member of the parade organizing committee, Dr. Hafiz Ur Rehman, a pediatrician from Bay Shore, said the marchers condemned the 2001 attacks.

“We are law-abiding citizens, and we want the people of New York to know that Muslims are part and parcel of the landscape,” he said. “The motto of this parade is that Islam holds human dignity high. And that is what we want to demonstrate.”

The parade was accompanied by a strong police presence. Before setting off, marchers laid down blue plastic ground coverings and prayed, the women behind the men.

Facing east, they alternately stood, knelt and touched foreheads to the ground. Marching behind banners representing Afghan, Bangladeshi and Indonesian community groups, they chanted more Muslim prayers along the 16-block parade route.

Police kept the marchers separate from the protesters, who shouted “God bless America” and “No more 9/11s!”

Protest leader Joe Kaufman, of Coral Springs, Fla., said parade organizers included groups that support Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that the U.S. government considers a terrorist organization. “We believe that this parade is a threat to New York City and a danger to national security,” he said.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not attend the parade, but a statement of support from him was read from a podium.

Parade-goer Khalilah Shabazz, of Newark, N.J., said the event was “beautiful.” “We’re all Muslims,” she said. “We’re all one big family. Just loving each other. Just pure love.”

How could Bloomberg allow it? Because they are Americans.