The New York Times (register)

WASHINGTON — He left as America’s Mayor. But Rudolph W. Giuliani will return to New York’s business and political arenas as a mere mortal, some of his friends and business associates acknowledge.

His bid for the Oval Office, perhaps most defined by bruising news coverage of his personal and professional life and a widely panned campaign strategy, have temporarily diminished his marketability, both as a $100,000-an-appearance public speaker and as a purveyor of corporate advice, they concede.

“The banging around you take in a political campaign can hurt,” said Richard J. Sheirer, a senior vice president at Giuliani Partners and a former emergency management official in the Giuliani administration. “In the short term, for the next I-don’t-know-how-long, there will be some effect.”