Spin Cycle

Nothing says, "Won’t you help me run for president?" like free drinks and hors d'oeuvres, a lesson not lost on John McCain and Mitt Romney.

Those two Republican presidential wannabes hosted high-end cocktail receptions Thursday night for the 200 some-odd GOP pooh-bahs in Washington for the party’s winter meetings.

But not Rudolph Giuliani. There was no Rudy reception, no breakfast nosh (like one thrown by slimmed-down ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee), nary a cracker topped with cheese.

It might not seem like much – but it amounted to a missed opportunity for the ex-mayor to rub shoulders with a couple hundred people who can sure help someone get to the White House.

Giuliani’s camp wouldn’t say why they didn’t spring for a meet-and-greet. But for a guy like Giuliani who still faces a lot of doubt about whether his campaign is for real, a few cocktail wieners would have gone a long way to saying -- I’m really running, so have a drink on me.

--Craig Gordon