In recent weeks, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has hired a New Hampshire spokesman, visited with prominent Granite State Republicans, and dropped vague, cryptic hints about once again seeking the Republican presidential nomination. But based on what he's been up to lately, we're dubious. His schedule has been full of appearances and he's giving interviews that make him look less like someone who's going to remain on the sidelines of the presidential race and someone who enjoys being Rudy Giuliani.

He's hosting "Mob Week" on AMC

As Politico's Maggie Haberman notes, introducing a week of heavily-edited gangster movies on basic cable is "not quite the typical venue for getting a glimpse at a potential presidential hopeful," but that's what Giuliani will be doing starting August 1. The FCC's equal time rules don't prohibit such an appearance, as David Oxenford of Broadcast Law Blog noted in April when discussing the impact a potential run by Donald Trump would have on The Apprentice. Free airtime is free airtime, whether you're a candidate or just marketing your "personal" brand. But usually political candidates don't aim to associate themselves with the criminal psychopaths of Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco, and the first two Godfather movies.

He's linked to Rupert Murdoch

The Daily Beast rehashed Giuliani's close ties to Rupert Murdoch last week, which included a Federal District Court ruling that Fox "used its direct access to the Mayor to seek the city's assistance" in pressuring Time Warner cable to add Fox News to its cable system back in 1996. Giuliani's defended Murdoch as "a very honorable, honest man" on CNN, even as the News of the World hacking scandal slowly made its way to the United States and the FBI began an investigation into whether the defunct tabloid hacked the phones of 9/11 victims. 

He wants the GOP to "move on" from the gay marriage fight

Giuliani said the New York state senate's decision to legalize gay marriage was "wrong" in an interview with CNN's Candy Crowley earlier this month, but his subsequent remarks urging Republicans to "move on" from the issue was the more memorable--and politically thorny--takeaway from the interview. "I don't know what the heck the Republican Party wants to do getting involved in people's sexual lives and personal lives so much for," Giuliani said. "Stay out of it. And I think we'd be a much more successful political party if we stuck to our economic, conservative roots and our idea of a strong, assertive America that is not embarrassed to be the leader of the world."

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Ray Gustini