The battle to define “America’s Mayor” continues. Republican Senator David Ritter of Louisiana, a social conservative, endorsed Rudy Giuliani yesterday, saying that he’s convinced Giuliani is not running to “advance any liberal social agenda” and that he’s supporting him because “Rudy has the strong, unwavering leadership and sound judgment that we so clearly need in this time of war and terrorist threat.”

That’s music to the Giuliani campaign’s ears, of course, and it’s a message that they’ll be hammering - during the Republican primary anyway. Unfortunately for them, however, the ghost of Rudy past isn’t going away. Here’s a clip of Rudy from the 1989 Mayoral campaign explaining his stance on abortion.

At the same time, Rudy’s image as 9/11 hero is also coming under attack. Here’s a recent shot across the bow from some Police and Firefighters Union chiefs.

More here from the International Association of Firefighters, who are still angry about Rudy’s decision in November 2001 to reduce the number of firefighters who were searching the World Trade Center site for remains.