giuliani to exploit support from 9/11 victims

from newsmax: Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s supporters have begun discussions with relatives of 9/11 victims about participating in his campaign if he runs for president in 2008.

One relative, Marian Fontana – who lost her firefighter husband on 9/11 – told the New York Post that she got an invitation to attend a Giuliani exploratory committee dinner last week from an ex-firefighter working with the committee.

Lee Ielpi, who lost his son in the terrorist attacks, said he talked about supporting Giuliani with Larry Levy, who ran the Twin Towers Fund and now works at Giuliani’s consulting firm.

"I admire what he accomplished in the city,” he told the Post. "And then 9/11 just brought out to the world . . . how strong a man he is.”

Ielpi added that he is "more than confident” Giuliani is capable of running the country.

It’s unclear what role the victims’ relatives might play in a Giuliani campaign. But some relatives are expected to be critical of Giuliani, blaming him for communications failures on the day of the attacks and charging that he didn’t do enough to protect rescue and recovery workers from polluted air at the scene, according to the Post, which notes that pro-Giuliani kin "could help Giuliani counter that criticism.”