HOW HE SEES IT Bush-Giuliani ticket would be sure win

By MICHAEL GOODWIN
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Fresh off his star turn before the star-struck 9/11 panel, Rudy Giuliani went back to his job last week as a private citizen. That's a waste of a rare talent. It's time we put him back to work for the good of the country.
Here's how: Boot Dick Cheney and put Giuliani on the GOP ticket as vice president.
Yes, yes, I know, Giuliani scoffs at the idea, and Republicans declare, cross-their-hearts, Cheney is staying. Speaking of hearts, how is Cheney's?
Oops, poor taste, but it's time to face facts. Veeps have been dumped before -- FDR did it, thank God -- and the White House now must think the unthinkable. Here are three reasons the GOP should switch:
UPresident Bush is in deep doo-doo. His popularity is taking a dive, and even good news only briefly halts the decline. At a mere 42 percent approval rating, he's in a league with just three modern incumbents -- Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bush One -- and all lost. If John Kerry gets his act together, Dems could take the Oval Office and Congress. Giuliani, on the other hand, remains a national hero and might give the ticket the push it needs.
UCheney and his crowd were the hard-liners on a war that now seems unnecessary at best. With the White House admitting the intelligence was wrong about the weapons of mass destruction, justifying the invasion increasingly requires a strong stomach. The public may well decide Bush should be fired. The president can demonstrate accountability by showing voters that Iraq is a fire-able offense. Bye-bye, Dick.
UShould a Bush-Cheney ticket be lucky enough to win, then what? Even party faithful gripe the administration is out of gas and ideas. That's where a good veep should come in. But Cheney emerges from his secure location only to speak to the most conservative groups. With such a tiny constituency and no job, now that Bush no longer needs adult supervision, Cheney would be an impediment.
Consider the challenges: Finishing the job in Iraq without making it more of a mess while waging the larger war on terror with the help of allies in Europe. And don't forget the domestic side of the job. Could Cheney do any of this?
Irrelevant baggage
Giuliani, of course, brings so much personal and political baggage that he needs an army of redcaps, but none is relevant to this election. As his eloquent appearance before the 9/11 panel showed, the ex-mayor has developed a workmanlike charisma that had even snarling-dog Democrats paying homage. Giuliani appears a confident, battle-tested general -- lacking only a command.
Most important, Giuliani is a rock-solid recruit to the war on terror. He nailed Kerry by saying the Dem really has no position on that war, and in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, he more clearly summarized Bush's policy than the president himself: "We are going to confront global terrorism and we are going to try to destroy it before it destroys us," Giuliani said, adding, "I think we're about halfway to the goal." (The full transcript is at cfr.org).
Pulling off the switch to Giuliani would be tricky, but FDR showed it can be done.
History
In fact, Roosevelt had three veeps during his four winning campaigns. John Nance Garner won with him the first two times, then, after a falling out, he was replaced by Henry Wallace for the 1940 election.
By 1944, with the nation deep into World War II and FDR's health failing, the president dumped Wallace and drafted Harry S. Truman. Only 82 days into the term, the president died, leaving it to Truman to finish that war. He did, to the nation's and democracy's eternal gratitude.
The war America faces now is just as dangerous. Once again, the nation needs a fresh leader to help finish the job. Fortunately, one is waiting on the bench. We just need to get him into the game.
XMichael Goodwin is a columnist for the New York Daily News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.