Rudy Giuliani has an annoying little habit. Take the time he was giving a nationally televised speech to the National Rifle Association and he stopped to answer a phone call–from his wife, Judith. The Wall Street Journal reports that it’s not the only time it’s happened:

The fact is that people inside the Giuliani campaign are appalled at the number of times their candidate has felt compelled to interrupt public appearances to take calls from his wife. The estimate from those in a position to know is that he has taken such calls more than 40 times in the middle of speeches, conferences and presentations to large donors. “If it’s a stunt, it’s not one coming from him,” says one Giuliani staffer. “It’s an ongoing problem that he won’t take advice on.”

And in trying to explain his odd behavior, Mr. Giuliani has only dug himself in deeper. On Friday he told David Brody of CBN News that since 9/11, when he and Mrs. Giuliani get on a plane, “most of the time . . . we talk to each other and just reaffirm the fact that we love each other.” He admitted he had taken calls from his wife “before in engagements, and I didn’t realize it would create any kind of controversy.” That’s hardly possible. Giuliani staffers say he has been warned over and over again that the phone calls are rude and inappropriate and have alienated everyone from local officials to top donors to close friends.

Giuliani’s behavior troubles me because it signifies a lack of respect and common courtesy to the very people he wants to vote for him. And it also raises the question: Who’s really running the campaign race–Rudy or Judith?