The Good/Bad on Giuliani: He's a Rock Star, but the Dogs are Coming

Chief White House Correspondent Kenneth T. Walsh has unearthed some good news and some bad news for presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani in the past few days:

First, the good: The former New York City mayor has become so popular during his travels that the staff builds in scheduled time to allow for making way through admiring crowds.

"People want to reach out to him, to touch him, meet him," says a GOP strategist who has seen Giuliani in action. "He takes longer to make his way out of a room than anyone I've seen in this race, and his staff now builds in time for that."

Now the bad: Giuliani's adversaries are aiming their artillery. Among their arsenal: The "9/10 strategy," which focuses on his record as mayor of New York prior to the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001.

It's true that Giuliani demonstrated strong leadership under crisis conditions after the strikes on the World Trade Center, but critics of the former mayor say his pre-9/11 story is much more negative. Many see Giuliani as a polarizing figure who alienated many New Yorkers with abrasiveness and disdain for dissent.

"Things look much different when you examine his record before 9/11," says a Giuliani critic.

Etc.: McCain's Good/Bad Week (Choose One), at the News Desk on USNews.com