Giuliani: I'm not riding that Segway. No way

BEDFORD, N.H.--President George W. Bush fell off a Segway the first time he tried to ride one. Would-be president Rudy Giuliani wasn't about to risk the same possible embarrassment at a campaign stop here at the Segway plant on Thursday.

Giuliani, who is here in advance of the New Hampshire primary on January 8, showed up at the birthplace of the inimitable personal transporters for a morning speech and photo opportunity. He spent about an hour touring the cavernous warehouse and its assembly lines, shaking hands with employees, and signing a few autographs.

But there was absolutely no Segway riding involved, much to the dismay of the many photographers and TV crews in the audience. (Veteran CBS anchor Bob Schieffer took a test ride afterward with instruction from company CEO James Norrod.)

It fit with the theme: Giuliani wasn't here to talk technology or environmental policy (one of the company's cornerstones), and he never alluded to Segway inventor Dean Kamen's entreaties to Washington to reject substantial patent law changes.

Instead, the ex-New York mayor largely stuck to his usual talking points--fighting terrorism, lowering taxes and adding more troops in Afghanistan. He also made passing references to the need to improve math and science education but didn't offer particular pledges.

"My prime commitment is to keep America safe and win the terrorist war against us," he said in an encore press conference in the middle of the factory. While he spoke, he paced in front of a backdrop that read: "Tested. Ready. Now."--which would also be probably a good quality-control slogan for Segway manufacturing.

Four tracking polls combined and averaged by RealClearPolitics.com put Giuliani at 10 percent in New Hampshire, behind John McCain and Mitt Romney, and just barely ahead of Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul.

[Ian Kirkland]

great!

Segways are great. I was on a tour in France that was on Segways. I
learned in two minutes and we had a wonderful four of a whole
town that tcould not have been done on foot or on a bus. I would
buy one but they're not street-legal where I live, even though those
people in those damn electric scooter and wheelchairs are
considerably more dangerous. Go figure.

[MyRightEye]

Chicken to ride a Segway, but you'll send boys to die in a pointless war

Yellow belly... All words and no substance...

Won't even hop on a Segway. WHAT A LOSER!!!

[mattumanu]

Bad Mojo: Process Fail(epic), restart user to continue.

War is only pointless to those afraid to wage it. How is it that someone willing to wage war is a yellow belly while you, whose stance is that protecting people and fighting against those who would harm others is pointless, is a hero?

My advice to you is to abort your account immediately, buy a parachute and forget to wear it as you jump out of a 747. Thankyou!

[savagesteve13]

Surprised the Segway isn't in Iraq already

Its an astonishingly expensive nearly useless product, I would have expected the DOD to buy 10,000 of them and force the troops to drive them around in downtown baghdad.
Of course Halliburton would have been the distributor and would have charged the taxpayer $50,000 for a $5000 product.

[benjwah]

Guiliani: Tough on Terrorism, weak on Segways

Hilarious. I'm Australian, so my words don't really count, but I'd have thought that Americans look for someone with the balls to ride a Segway (even if they fall off of it) when they search for a President. I've never seen one in real life, but they don't look that hard. I mean, grow a pair Rudy.
Betcha Hillary, Mike, Barack & Mitt aren't afraid of Segways.