The many sides of Rudy Giuliani

Who is Rudy Giuliani? Is he the statesmanlike leader portrayed in his TV spots? (You can see one on his website, here.) Is he the thoughtful commentator on immigration whom David Brooks profiled as saying in a 1996 speech, “I’m pleased to be with you this evening to talk about the anti-immigrant movement in America, and why I believe this movement endangers the single most important reason for American greatness, namely, the renewal, reformation and reawakening that’s provided by the continuous flow of immigrants?”

Or is he the Rudy who proposes a single biometric ID card for all foreigners entering the US (boy, would that cause problems for New York merchants who are making millions and millions off European tourists using the weak dollar in wild shopping sprees)? And the Rudy who would require all immigrants to read and write English? (A study by the Pew Center shows that the overwhelming majority of children of Hispanic immigrants learn fluent English.)

Is he the Rudy who speaks with authority, citing statistics to prove that he turned New York City from the brink of disaster? Or the Rudy whose statistics are wrong, time after time?

Is he the Rudy who reduced crime in New York, or the Rudy who provided a police car and a driver for his mistress (now third wife), Judith Nathan?

And if we can't figure out which of these Rudy's is the real one, or if he's more than one of them, how can he make a claim to the highest office in the land?