Republican candidate off the mark on cost of milk, bread

Associated Press reported Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani hasn't done a lot of grocery shopping lately — at least based on his answers about the cost of milk and bread.

Grocery shopping is not one of the skills I look for in a President. But did the AP ask the Democratic candidates?

Campaigning in Alabama on Tuesday, the former New York City mayor portrayed himself as a fiscal conservative and an aggressive fighter of terrorism who has a lot in common with the Deep South state. But when asked about more mundane matters — like the price of some basic staples — Giuliani had trouble with a reporter's question. "A gallon of milk is probably about a $1.50, a loaf of bread about a $1.25, $1.30," he said. A check of the Web site for D'Agostino supermarket on Manhattan's Upper East Side showed a gallon of milk priced at $4.19 and a loaf of white bread at $2.99 to $3.39. In Montgomery, Ala., a gallon of milk goes for about $3.39 and bread is about $2.

He was in Alabama, not Manhattan. And in Tulsa Wonder Bread is $1.74, and I think a generic loaf of bread is available for not much more than $1, two loaves of French bread are $1, and a half gallon of milk is $1 (on sale)

Later Tuesday, the Giuliani campaign pointed out that the national average for bread is $1.17 per pound, as listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The government agency also lists milk as costing, on average, $1.60 per half-gallon.