Hizzoner May Be a Goner in N.Y. Senate Race

Unwinding a sham marriage in front of the voters might have been politically possible for Rudy Giuliani in this Clintonian age, but the New York mayor may find that not telling his wife about it beforehand was a genuinely lousy idea. And so instead of continuing to protect both partners' privacy and stand by her man, the scooped Ms. Hanover seized something resembling the high ground with a tearful press conference of her own late Wednesday. Without naming names, Hanover accused Giuliani of a long-rumored affair with his former communications director Cristyne Lategano — a dalliance that Giuliani has oft denied — and then moved right on to the other other woman, 'very good friend' Judith Nathan. "I made a major effort to bring us back together," she said. "Rudy and I reestablished some of our personal intimacy through the fall. At that point he chose another path."

Speaking of other paths... "I don't really care about politics right now," Giuliani said at his press briefing Wednesday, and suddenly it's very easy to believe him. For one thing, Rudy is no longer the lonely husband, he's a cad and, possibly, a liar (over his denials of an involvement with Lategano). And he's a cad with poor judgment whose trigger finger looks itchier than ever. Anyone who had doubts about how the hot-tempered Hizzoner would handle himself in the theoretically august Senate can't be feeling any better today about a man who can't huddle with his own wife about their separation. So with Giuliani up to his massive forehead in reasons to get out of the Senate race he's not quite in yet — from prostate cancer to the prospect of a very ugly and public divorce — political wagerers might want to grab the last good odds that he'll take a pass. Long Island representative Rick Lazio, who local Republican big-brains have been hinting might be a stronger statewide candidate than Rudy since the cancer news hit, might want to start lacing up his stumpin' shoes.