The LuLac Edition #148, Feb. 7, 2007

PHOTO INDEX: ATTORNEY THOMAS MARSILIO, THEN PRIVATE CITIZEN RUDY GIULIANI AND BLOGGER AT YANKEE STADIUM IN EARLY 90s AND DA DAVID LUPAS.

LUPAS 1, HUGO 0

In case you’re following this drama, the recent decision by a higher court that Hugo Selinski’s escape charges were thrown out and have now been reinstated can only bring good news to the Lupas For Judge camp.
The recent charges from the Marsilio camp might now be muted a bit by this decision that has to deflect some criticism from the Lupas wing.
The race between Marsilio and Lupas is a contrast in the different types of Attorneys that populate Luzerne County. To be sure, there is a style in contrasts. First, there’s Lupas, well funded, a straight arrow image, a seemingly hands on DA especially when the cameras are on. Lupas worked his way up the political ladder paying special attention to the pecking order of how politics is played in the county.
Marsilio on the other hand is a well known barrister who has a penchant for wearing a big brown hat while walking to the courthouse from his law offices on nearby Darling Street. A retired Marine, Marsilio has on more than once occasion touted his veteran’s experience to compare himself with his opponents. You’ll most likely see more of that in this race. Marsilio has run for DA before and waged pretty decent campaigns despite being outspent. He has been elected to the Crestwood Area School District as a board member. Unlike Lupas’ career, Marsilio has been less structured in his decision to ascend to the bench. He is known as an attorney who has seen the law from every aspect, but has not made any great political inroads. This might help especially in a race for Judge where some voters want politics removed from the equation.
The decision by Marsilio to become a Democrat does point out the fact that he is indeed serious about the race. He has to realize that the Republican Party is not going to help him in any manner, shape or form. The strategy might work since voters are used to judges cross filing on tickets and the fact that he changed political parties might not brand him a turncoat as it might in other races.
Either way, the Marsilio/Lupas race has a third dimension and like the duo running for Judge, the man has much courtroom exposure. Unlike Lupas and Marsilio, Hugo Selinski cannot meet with the media at will or stroll down Darling Street from his day in court.

RUDY ON THE RUN

Okay, here's my scenario for Rudy Giuliani becoming the next President. Everything has to break just right but here goes. The GOP field has some problems. McCain is viewed as too old and has not yet recieved the love of the right wingers he torked off in his 2000 Presidential bid. The true blue conservatives won't bring themselves to get behind this guy so they begin to pout. The other conservative, Mitt Romney, while attractive gets assailed in the primaries for flip flopping on major issues like abortion. Meantime, former Speaker Newt Gingrich hesitates and that dooms his otherwise formidable candidacy. Congressman Duncan Hunter, Governor Mike Huckabee and Senator Sam Brownback can't get known well enough in time before the huge primary push in early 2008. Rudy in the meantime barnstorms the country and hits on three themes: 1. He'll be tough on those terrorists by God because he was almost killed by them. You'll see images of Rudy on 9/11 walking threough that mess. 2. On the war, he'll not withdraw our troops but look for an honorable solution. (A page out of the Nixon-Kissinger playbook of 1972's "Peace With Honor" plan.) 3. He'll be like Popeye, "I am what I am and that's all what I am". He'll talk straight with that New York chip on his shoulder and dare people to ask him about his three marriages with three hot women, about his business dealings after 911 (are you looking at me? are you looking at me? Questioning my patriotism? you looking at me???!!!) Rudy will tell the Republican party that he is the only straight talker in the bunch, the McCain of 2008 and that if he is denied a chance at the Presidency because as a lawyer he follows the dictates of the Supreme Court on abortion, has a few gay friends, been unlucky in love, and is an Italian American (and he'll play this card too) who broke the back of the Gotti regime in New York. If they don't think he is good enough to be the leader of their party, then they could stuff it. Civil rights groups complain about Rudy's relationships with blacks but that only lends him more credibility with the southern conservatives. A ticket of Giuliani for President and former GOP chair and current southern Governor Haley Barbour is formed and the beleagured Republican party actually has a shot at electing another President. That's how, if everything I mentioned above happens, Rudy Giuliani becomes the next President in a close race. If the Dems nominate Barak Obama, Rudy wins in a Reagan like landslide. And Rudy and Judy then make their summer White House in the Conyimgham Valley buying Jack Palance's old estate.