Ray, like it or not, it is perfectly proper to judge politicians on how they responded to a crisis. It's part of their record.

Rudy's record includes, successfully in the minds of most people, his response to 9/11. As such, its not only proper for him to run on it, it would be foolish not to.

Furthermore, the left's attacks on Bush's response to 9/11 and Katrina show that they think it's perfectly legitimate to discuss how a politician responds to a crisis albeit, in the case of Bush, when the discussion is critical.

You can't have it both ways, Ray. If its appropriate to criticize one Republican for his response to 9/11, its appropriate for another Republican to point out why his response deserves kudos.