MorphWorld: Rudy Giuliani into... Michael Dukakis?

Come on, joe, you're reaching here.

Or am I?

The pictures of Giuliani in drag that occasionally pop up in the newspaper alongside stories about his nascent presidential campaign make me smile so.

The one above, of Giuliani gamming it up with the Radio City Rockettes in 2001, accompanied the print version of yesterday's Washington Post Outlook section front page story by Andrew Kirtzman about the current leader in Republican presidential polls.

Then there's the memorable video of him singing "Happy Birthday, Mister President" in 1997 — in full drag.

You can bet that'll get a lot of play on YouTube.

Oh, the people pouring money into Rudy's campaign think he's the next best thing to sliced bread but guess what?

When those pictures appear in TV ads in Macon, Georgia and Orem, Utah and their ilk during the primaries and runup to the convention, and then even more often during the actual race should he by some miracle overcome their huge negative weight and obtain the nomination, it'll be Dukakis in his Snoopy-helmeted befuddlement — head bobbling all around while the tank he's riding in bounces its way to his defeat — all over again.

Find another horse to ride, would be my advice.

Once the public starts to laugh at you instead of with you, they never stop.