FOR THE RECORD

Uncertainty about whether to believe Mayor Bloomberg's declarations that he's not running for President or all the evidence to the contrary led a couple of labor leaders who are favorably disposed toward him to reserve comment when asked if they would support him.

"I think the Mayor has been a very good and positive leader," Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook, one of only two union heads who backed Mr. Bloomberg in his first run for Mayor in 2001, said during a June 20 interview. "At the same time, I take him at his word that he's not a candidate right now."

Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association President Harry Nespoli was even more effusive about Mr. Bloomberg's performance in office, saying, "I have to give this guy an A-plus for the job he's done here, the way he brought the city back after 9/11. Me personally, I think this Mayor's going to go down as one of the best in the history of this city."

Then he added, "As far as an endorsement for President, I really don't know. Until he says he's a candidate, there's really no way to know."

Mr. Nespoli and his union have had a warm relationship with the front-runner for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton, which would complicate matters for them if Mr. Bloomberg winds up running against her.

Mr. Seabrook also has a favorite in the Democratic contest. Following a June 23 meeting with the Illinois Senator, he's a Barack Obama believer, telling the New York Post he admired "his truth and sincerity."

But the COBA leader noted to us prior to that meeting that the likelihood that Mr. Bloomberg won't enter the race until the nominees of both major parties have been decided buys labor leaders some time in making a decision. Left unsaid by Mr. Seabrook was that it gives them the opportunity to climb aboard a fresh horse if their primary choice didn't get the nomination.

***

Newsday reported June 19 that Rudy Giuliani skipped every meeting held by the Iraq Study Group during the two months before he quit the panel last May, which prompted the ex-Mayor to respond that he opted out to avoid charges of politics once he decided to run for President.

That spin is countered, however, by the discovery by Newsday reporter Craig Gordon that on at least two occasions, Mr. Giuliani missed study group meetings in Washington, D.C. in order to give speeches for $100,000 or more. He passed up one session on April 12, 2006 to give a keynote speech at an economic conference in South Korea for $200,000, and another on May 18 of that year, when he chose instead to go to Atlanta to address a business awards breakfast for $100,000 and then attend a fund-raiser for Ralph Reed, an important ally in his bid for support from Christian conservatives.

By blowing off the study group, Mr. Giuliani missed a chance to burnish his so-far thin foreign policy credentials, and to visit Iraq, which the group's two chairs did last summer for four days.

We'd suggest that maybe he could have gotten all the information about Iraq that he needed from Bernie Kerik, except that a book by a Washington Post reporter published last year indicated that Mr. Giuliani's former Police Commissioner and business partner spent more time looking for favorable media attention than carrying out the mission he had been given by the Bush Administration of training the Iraqi police force.

The Newsday story described Iraq Study Group chairman James Baker, the former Secretary of State under President George H.W. Bush, as having forced the issue. According to his policy assistant, John Williams, "Baker felt that it was important for future meetings that people show up, so that left the decision on Giuliani whether he would make it or not."

Mr. Giuliani, who earned more than $11 million giving speeches last year on top of his income from his legal and advisory businesses, appears to have concluded that making hay while the sun shined took precedence over public service.