As someone who not only suffered as a child the trauma of a bad marriage but also the trauma of my parents awful divorce, my heart goes out to Andrew Giuliani. In an interview this past weekend, the always candid son of the Rudester, talked about the strained relationship he has with his father :

New York Daily News - Politics - Rudy's son: 'I got my values from my mother':

"I got my values from my mother," 21-year-old Andrew Giuliani told ABC in an interview quoted on "Good Morning America" yesterday, the same day the Daily News spotlighted the rift between the former mayor and his only son.

"She's a strong influence in my life," Andrew Giuliani said of his mother, Donna Hanover, seemingly drawing a contrast between her and Rudy Giuliani. "She's a strong woman."

As The NY Times aptly points out, Giuliani's children are nowhere mentioned on his campaign site, an omission that has not been missed by GOP contenders like Mitt Romney, who is vying for the conservative-est of them all.

But Giuliani, in trying to be hip has just declared to news wires that it's just a normal problem facing blended families : "I believe that these problems with blended families, you know, are challenges — sometimes they are," he said. "The more privacy I can have for my family, the better we are going to be able to deal with all these difficulties."

Yeaaaaaah. Riiiiiight.

No responsible father would miss his son or daughter's high school graduation or learn about your kid being accepted to Harvard through the papers. As someone who had a similar father, I can tell you, narcissists can be absolutely brutal with their children.

As all New Yorkers now, Rudy Giuliani's problems are first and foremost attributed to his character : He is a ruthless, egomaniac who will do anything to hurt his opponents --even it that one person is the mother of his children and his weapon of choice the kids.

The divorce was one of the ugliest I have seen in this city, played out to the tabloids and local media because Giuliani could not admit fault in the way he handled things and just move on with an apology. I mean, do people remember when he tried to evit Donna from Gracie Mansion?

It amazes me anybody would consider him for president of the United States. Then again, there were quite a few people at CPAC who, by their laughter, obviously found Ann Coulter's comments about John Edwards adorable.

Which begs the question, will republicans look the other way? Presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley doesn't think so:

"It's a real first strike against the candidate, puts them in a dark deep hole right off the bat," Brinkley said. "It's gonna be ugly. His own son doesn't think he is a man of high moral values."

According to Brinkley, the critical area candidates must keep pristine during the grueling race to the White House is their wholesome family image. Scenes like Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., with his irresistible little girls or Republican Mitt Romney surrounding himself with his children and grandchildren when he announced his run for president are priceless.

"The big moment, the memorable moment, isn't the speech but it's when the candidate steps forward, the wife comes on, the kids rush on and you hear this great 'aww,' and everyone feels there is a specialness to this person," Brinkley said.