REAL AMERICA'S MAYORS DON'T BUY GROCERIES

In a Giuliani presidency, perhaps we won't even notice that George Bush isn't president -- one George Bush or the other:

...Campaigning in Alabama on Tuesday, the former New York City mayor portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative and an aggressive fighter of terrorism who has a lot in common with the Deep South state.

But when asked about more mundane matters -- like the price of some basic staples -- Giuliani had trouble with a reporter's question.

"A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30," he said.

A check of the Web site for D'Agostino supermarket on Manhattan's Upper East Side showed a gallon of milk priced at $4.19 and a loaf of white bread at $2.99 to $3.39. In Montgomery, Ala., a gallon of milk goes for about $3.39 and bread is about $2.

Giuliani was closer to the mark on the price of a gallon of gasoline.

"Gas, I think, is $2.89," he said....

Rudy, I suspect, regularly gets to watch as whoever is chauffeuring him pumps gas. Bread and milk are a different story.

He played Sergeant Schultz when asked about a certain hot-button issue in the South:

...Giuliani said he did not recall seeing a Confederate flag during his day in Alabama -- even though there was a display of four Confederate flags flying beside the Capitol.

And when asked about displaying those nonexistent Confederate flags, he was apparently given a free pass:

Mr. Giuliani also was asked about flying the confederate flag over the state capitol, and said that it was a decision best left up to the states.

..."One of the great beauties of the kind of government we have , which is a national/federal government is that we can make -- on a broad range of issues -- we can make different decisions in different parts of the country," he said. "We have different sensitivities and at different times we are going to come to different decisions and I think that is best left up to the states."

Er, Rudy? We know it's a state issue. No one's seriously proposing making it a federal issue. That's not the question. The question is: Do you think it's wrong?

Maybe he'll explain the next time he's on Imus. (He also said he wouldn't stop appearing on the show.)