Free Republic

As one of his supporters, actor Robert Duvall, might say: Rudy played this one beautifully. Last week, all Republican politicians worth their weight came out blasting MoveOn.org for taking out a full-page ad in the New York Times smearing Gen. David Petraeus on the day he was scheduled to deliver his Iraq progress report to Congress. The outrage among conservatives only grew as leading Democrats failed to condemn the ad, Hillary Clinton questioned the general's honesty, and it was disclosed that the far left group was given a drastically reduced advertising rate in the New York Times. But while other...

Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber. But today ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun ownership. Some social conservatives even dismiss his achievement in reviving New York before 9/11. An August story on the website Right Wing...

The former mayor leads Clinton by five percentage points, 48 to 43. The Republican Giuliani holds a comfortable lead in the “red states,” topping Clinton by 17 percentage points, and he is even with Clinton in “blue states.” Giuliani has strong support among Republican voters, with 40 percent saying they are likely to vote for him. Arizona Senator John McCain trails with 18 percent, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has said he may not run if Giuliani holds a commanding lead. As for the Democrats, Clinton has the support of 38 percent of those polled. Illinois Senator...

In February 1997, Palestinian English teacher Ali Abu Kamal went to the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building, pulled out a gun, and opened fire, killing one person and wounding six others before killing himself. Even though he carried letters ranting about the US and Israel, the media heavily promoted the story that he was despondent and suicidal after a financial loss. Today the killer’s daughter—who works for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian “refugees” (UNRWA)—admitted that this story was a complete fraud. She wants the world to know that her father was “martyred...

"What we pay people in Washington for is to make decisions," former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the audience at the California GOP convention in Sacramento Saturday. Meanwhile, back in Washington, members of Congress have been acting as if they were sent to Washington to make non-decisions. Witness the nonbinding House resolution being debated this week in which members profess to support U.S. troops in Iraq, but, "Congress disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush announced on Jan. 10, 2007, to deploy more than 20,000 additional U.S. combat troops to Iraq." The Senate couldn't even manage to...

Nobody can discredit the talent, skill and sheer genius of Frank Sinatra. Emerging onto the music scene in 1935, the hoodlum from Hoboken went from the marketplace to the marquee. For six decades this musical rock of Gibraltar wooed audiences from Jersey to Japan, Connecticut to Cambodia. He was a living legend. But like most legends, Sinatra had an Achilles heel. While drugs, alcohol and cigarettes may be addictive, the spotlight is down right infectious, and when one has occupied the spotlight for decades, it is pretty much impossible to vacate it. Sinatra, even though a maverick of music, fell...

Moves Closer To Full-Fledged Presidential Run (CBS/AP) WASHINGTON -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Monday defended the Iraq war and criticized Al Gore's global-warming movie. As for his presidential ambitions, Giuliani coyly inched closer to a formal announcement. "I am 100 percent committed," he said. "That official part, I still have to do a formal announcement. But we'll figure out how to do that. My idea is that I'm going to try to announce this in 100 different places." Giuliani, a Republican, said he supports efforts to move California's 2008 presidential primary from June to February, a...

Views of Giuliani put GOP to the test His moderate stands on social issues part with conservative base .......On the first day of his five-day California swing, a blog popular with state conservatives, Flash Report.org, posted a YouTube clip from a February 2000 Meet the Press in which Giuliani boasts that no public official in the nation is "more strongly pro-immigrant than I am." For conservatives who want a president who will crack down on illegal immigration, that sort of talk is very troubling. "That's a big mistake," said Linda Sutter, 50, of Crescent City, Calif., who supports Giuliani because...

Secret study cited "weirdness factor" among candidate weaknesses FEBRUARY 12--As he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination, Rudolph Giuliani will have to contend with political and personal baggage unknown to prospective supporters whose knowledge of the former New York mayor is limited to his post-September 11 exploits. So, in a bid to educate the electorate, we're offering excerpts from a remarkable "vulnerability study" that was commissioned by Giuliani's campaign prior to his successful 1993 City Hall run. The confidential 450-page report, authored by Giuliani's research director and another aide, was the campaign's attempt to identify possible lines of attack against...

As Mayor Giuliani looks over the acres of gleaming tractors, mammoth cotton harvesters, and hightech cow milking equipment at a fair in California's vast agricultural heartland tomorrow morning, he will surely feel like he's a long way from Manhattan. The prospect of a visit from the man billed as America's mayor already has local folks in California's central valley atwitter. "Honestly, this is probably the biggest name we've had," the chairman of the World Ag Expo in Tulare, Calif., Bruce Shannon, said yesterday. Mr. Shannon allowed that Mr. Giuliani had "probably not run into a lot of combines and tractors"...

Giuliani: Gun control helped lower crime 5 minutes ago Rudy Giuliani addressed a potentially troublesome issue with conservative voters, saying his policies as mayor to get handguns off the street helped reduce crime in New York. "I used gun control as mayor," he said at a news conference Saturday during a swing through California. But "I understand the Second Amendment. I understand the right to bear arms." He said what he did as mayor would have no effect on hunting. Addressing another potential trouble spot with conservatives, Giuliani spoke in favor of a border fence, saying, "You have to have...

Rudy's Run By The Editors Rudy Giuliani is a compelling candidate for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. He saved New York City, by restoring law and order and breaking with the disastrous urban liberalism of the 1970s. He will forever be honored for his leadership after the 9/11 attacks. And his effective, no-nonsense management style and straight-talking persona are enormously appealing. Our colleague John Podhoretz is correct when he points out that conservatives want to like Giuliani, and we would add that there is a lot to like. But there are serious obstacles to Giuliani’s winning the embrace...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York mayor and presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani gained fame for his performance after the September 11 attacks, but charges that he also made serious blunders could give ammunition to rival candidates. Giuliani, a Republican, has all but formally declared his candidacy and polls show he is a strong contender, largely because of his steely and comforting leadership that day in 2001. But Giuliani also made mistakes in handling the city's emergency services that may have cost lives, say the co-authors of the 2006 book "Grand Illusion: The Untold Story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11."...

Inching ever-closer to declaring a White House bid, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said yesterday "there's a real good chance" he's running for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Giuliani was in South Carolina - a key presidential battleground - meeting with local Republicans when he was asked whether he planned to finish exploring a possible run and official declare. "There's a real good chance," said Giuliani, who has stepped up his campaign and fund-raising stops in recent weeks. Giuliani's comments were his most succinct to date on his presidential aspirations and came as his new strategy director, Brent Seaborn, sent a...

Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber. But today ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun ownership. Some social conservatives even dismiss his achievement in reviving New York before 9/11. An August story on the website Right Wing...

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone poll shows that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) continues to hold an eight-point lead over Senator John McCain (R) in the race for the Republican nomination. Giuliani now earns 30% of the vote, up from 28% a week ago. John McCain (R) has support from 22% while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich remains in third at 12%. Former Massachusetts Mitt Romney is back in double digits at 10%. Another former Governor Mike Huckabee registers just 2% as does Senator Sam Brownback. Senator Chuck Hagel registers support from 1% of GOP voters.While McCain...

Questions remain about whether former Mayor Rudy Giuliani will follow through with a 2008 White House bid, but as he ramps up his Manhattan-based campaign, Hizzoner will also be getting a little help from some friends in Washington. GOP Reps. Peter King, N.Y., Vito Fossella, N.Y., and Pete Sessions, Texas, will head Hizzoner's Capitol Hill outreach efforts. King represents a Long Island district and Fossella holds a Staten Island-based seat. Both represent the kind of ethnically diverse, middle-class suburbs filled with voters who Giuliani backers think would warm to the former mayor's bid. The two have been allies of Giuliani...

January 23, 2007 -- Rudy Giuliani, a 2008 GOP White House front-runner, is moving to sell the Wall Street wing of his multi-pronged business - the strongest sign yet that he's making a serious play for the presidency, The Post has learned. Officials at Giuliani Partners have been meeting quietly with several firms about buying the firm's stake in Giuliani Capital Advisors, an investment banking company, sources familiar with the discussions said. The Chicago-based investment firm is the largest arm of the former mayor's self-named business, and may be the biggest cash cow of Giuliani's four-unit business. But they "get...

Giuliani's Team Prepares To Expand And "Revamp" His Committee Political aides to ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) will reorganize his presidential exploratory efforts over the next two weeks, expanding his national finance team and adding staff in early primary states to try to ransform the New York-centric operation into a credible national campaign. Giuliani backers have run into resistance among major fundraisers and with activists in early primary states because these activists are not convinced that Giuliani actually intends to run, his aides said. In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Giuliani lags behind Sen. John McCain and Ex-MA Gov....

Things are goofy in California. I mean, goofier than usual. Republicans are afraid they've lost influence with the governor, which wouldn't be so strange if the governor wasn't also a Republican. What's even stranger is that -- in a true blue state such as California, where Democrats control the Legislature and most of the top offices in the executive branch -- Republicans haven't figured out most Californians no longer care what they think, and this includes the chief executive from their own party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 5 after coasting to re-election....

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani on Thursday dismissed his liberal social views--including support for gay rights--his divorces, and his former aide’s imbroglio as irrelevant to a presidential bid. Asked about a leaked political strategy memo that cited such issues as potentially insurmountable obstacles to a campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Giuliani said, "That is not going to be the issue." "I sure have strengths and weaknesses," Giuliani said on ABC’s Good Morning America. "I think that sort of puts me in the same category as just about everybody else that’s running. Are my strengths greater or my...

Rudy Giuliani remains the most popular presidential hopeful for Republican Party sympathizers in the United States, according to a poll by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News. 30 per cent of respondents would vote for the former New York City mayor in a 2008 primary. Arizona senator John McCain is second with 23 per cent, followed by former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich with nine per cent, and Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney with eight per cent. Support is lower for Kansas senator Sam Brownback, New York governor George Pataki, and California congressman Duncan Hunter.

.......On Nov. 15, Mr. Giuliani met in Manhattan with supporters who could form the core of a national fund-raising effort, including Thomas O. Hicks, the owner of the Texas Rangers; Mel M. Immergut, the chairman of the New York law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy; and William E. Simon Jr., an investor who ran for governor of California in 2002. Mr. Giuliani crisscrossed the country this year, visiting 25 states to campaign with or raise money for Republican candidates, according to his political action committee, Solutions America. But political analysts say his liberal views on social issues like abortion...

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a moderate Republican best known for his stewardship of the city after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has taken the first step in a 2008 presidential bid, GOP officials said Monday...

CNN) -- If the results of a recent poll pan out, voters will see two big names from the Big Apple on the ballot in November 2008. Those names are Sen. Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican. The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Thursday indicated Clinton and Giuliani were the early favorites to win their respective party's nomination. But those polled said they believe the former first lady would have a smoother path to the nomination than her GOP counterpart. Conducted December 9-11, the telephone poll asked 393 registered voters who described themselves as...