Rudy Giuliani was a big fan of cigars, certainly prior to his prostate cancer in 2000, and that mixed in an interesting way with his anti-Castro political promotions as mayor and the emigres who manufacture the stogies, and who have helped fund his campaign. There is an interesting piece on this in today's Miami Herald.
For many years Manny Papir was Giuliani's loyal aide, and even though his wife Judith got Papir fired on the trip to Europe that saw her husband knighted by the Queen of England, he is quoted matter-of-factly in the Herald piece on his lecturing of Israeli leader Ehud Olmert for having offered Giuliani a Cuban cigar. As noted in the story, Papir is not working for any presidential candidate. Rudy is due back in Hialeah tomorrow, the heart of Cuban-American Miami, during the Iowa caucuses to emphasize the importance of Florida, the land of the hanging chad, in his plans to capture the GOP nomination.
One of the little ironies this week is how Giuliani supported an exception to his successor Mike Bloomberg's landmark anti-smoking bill in the city for cigar bars. We understand that every now and then in the Grand Havana room, he exchanged awkward acknowledging nods with the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Dan Janison