Rudy Giuliani should be the last guy to talk about appointing a screwup to public office, rival Mitt Romney sniped Sunday as the Republicans continued to attack each other during a weekend of campaigning in New Hampshire. Romney called it "strange" and "ironic" that Giuliani should attack him about a judge he appointed, conjuring up the specter of Giuliani's disgraced police commissioner, Bernard Kerik. Giuliani "put somebody in place as commissioner who had a very questionable past and then recommended to the President of the United States this person be made the secretary of homeland security, despite the fact that he, at this point, was under investigation," Romney said.
The ex-mayor fired back that Romney was trying to distract attention "from his own mistake," citing reports that a convict released without bail by a Romney-appointed judge was arrested last week on charges of killing again.
The firefight came as the two Republican presidential hopefuls crisscrossed the Granite State, home of the nation's first primary. A recent CNN/WMUR poll pegged Romney's support rising to 33% from 25% in September, compared with Giuliani's slide to 16% from 24% backing over the same period.
Romney sought to differentiate Giuliani's association with Kerik from his own recent problem, saying Giuliani showed questionable judgment. He said while he chose a proven prosecutor who showed no previous trouble signs - and has now asked her to resign - Giuliani elevated his close associate Kerik, "an individual who has now pled guilty to a crime [and] has been indicted for 16 different actions."