Opinion: And where would Britney Spears rank, Mr. Giuliani?

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Rudy Giuliani probably got caught up in the moment. Maybe he was jet-lagged. Regardless, a comment he made while in London on Wednesday arguably revealed that center-of-the-universe mentality that so endears New Yorkers to their brethren across the country.

The Brooklyn native and former New York mayor had taken his presidential campaign to the other side of the pond in an unusual and widely reported move for a presidential candidate. He raised money from Americans residing in Britain and hobnobbed with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and two of Brown’s predecessors, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

Many of the reviews were glowing. A New York Post story termed the visit ‘a public-relations coup for Giuliani, allowing him to look statesmanlike while meeting Britain’s top leaders.’ A New York Times story said the stop provided him the opportunity to present himself ‘as a statesman while also scoring points with the Republican faithful by associating’ with Thatcher, long a darling of foreign-policy hawks.

But the New York Daily News focused on what it termed ‘one offhand remark’ he made to reporters at his London hotel.

‘I’m probably one of the four or five best-known Americans in the world,’ he said.

The take from the tabloid: Giuliani ‘ended up sounding more like a world-class braggart than a world-class leader.’

The story also reported that when he was asked to name the four better-known Americans, ‘Giuliani replied, ‘Bill Clinton ... Hillary,’ before being whisked away by aides to another engagement.’

The story went on to note that a certain U.S. president --- and fellow Republican --- didn’t make his initial cut.

We would note that among the world’s diverse, hard-working, often-preoccupied populace --- which includes lots of folks who, perish the thought, pay little attention to U.S. politics but a great deal to entertainment figures and sports stars --- Giuliani might be surprised how well-known, or not, he is.

Indeed, we anxiously await those poll results.

-- Don Frederick