With Gipper's game plan, Rudy can win it all

Chi Sun Times ^ | July 30, 2005 | THOMAS ROESER

[Uncledave]

With Gipper's game plan, Rudy can win it all

July 30, 2005

BY THOMAS ROESER Advertisement

As I write this I know my fellow social conservatives will get mad: There is no one in either political party who would be a more exciting candidate for president than Rudy Giuliani, former mayor of New York City. I'll tell you his story -- the good and the bad -- and I'll tell you how he can solve his problems with you. And me. Incidentally, as you read, keep in mind the contrast with Mayor Daley.

The good and bad about Rudy is contained in a book, The Prince of the City [Encounter: 2005] by Fred Siegel, a hard-bitten teacher at Cooper Union University. The good: Rudy came into office in 1994 a Republican in a Big Apple that was rotten to the core, steeped with bosses, bagmen and racial arsonists, a hostile "combination of liberal consensus and helplessness [that] made serious policy debate seem irrelevant," and quickly brought in a band of brother prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office. They gave up millions in private law firm salaries for the fun of working and drinking (after hours) with Rudy. Most never left his side until his two terms ran out in 2001.

Giuliani was an eerily compulsive hands-on manager. If you want to understand him, said an associate, remember that as a Yankee fan he's the guy who keeps score and writes down how each out and each run took place. Just as when he read The Godfather he diagrammed how the mob worked, for relaxation he would sketch on a pad how every department worked. He would explain to the public clearly what he wanted to do: cut the size of government, cut taxes to attract jobs "so people can work," consolidate or cut out city departments, introduce competition to delivery of services and work with the governor [Democrat Mario Cuomo] "to get our fair share of revenue."

He insisted on tough police standards, once jumping out of his limo in Times Square to chase a guy he saw grab a woman's purse. He was heedless of civil libertarians. It seemed like he wanted to offend all interest groups and took the heat, forgetting the polls. Crime in 1995 saw 163,428 fewer felonies, with murder dropping 16 percent in 1996. He trumpeted that work is the best social welfare policy, pushing welfare reform, announcing that 23 percent of the welfare recipients in Jersey City were also receiving New York City benefits. He balanced his budget, fought with Al Sharpton against what he called "racial racketeering," and grinned as he took heat from minority communities.

The bad? Giuliani was ego-driven. He got jealous of his police commissioner, who was getting more favorable press than he, fired him and hired another (who was just as tough). Giuliani's personal life fell into tatters: his first marriage annulled, his second wife was a TV anchor who drove him nuts. He spatted with her, kept public company with a divorcee, came down with prostate cancer, married again. His political career was pronounced over. Then came 9/11.

That tragedy redeemed him. When the first plane hit the north tower, Guiliani ran from the Pinnacle Hotel where he was at a breakfast, shouting over his cell phone that command headquarters should move from 7 World Trade Center to Barclay Street a block away. Good thinking: Just as they evacuated, the plane hit the south tower. The debris was so heavy his command center was inundated. With his cell phone deadened, Giuliani's staff thought he was dead as well, but a janitor found him dazed and led him out through a little-known passage in the basement.

Television captured the man at that moment, stumbling down the street in the smoke, his handkerchief to his mouth, directing his city through uncharted territory, ordering all bridges and tunnels shut down. Courage is the most important virtue, said Churchill: It guarantees all others. As Bush retires, he should be supplanted by a man of this valor.

Social conservatives will oppose Giuliani for his pro-abortion views. It's up to Giuliani to help himself with them, and here's how. As governor of California, Ronald Reagan signed the most permissive abortion law in the country. Rudy, can you hear me? If you want this thing -- this presidency -- you gotta change and mean it. Your marriages we can do nothing about. But your social views have to change. They'll say you're an opportunist, but you have heard that before. You can change. And mean it. We're waiting.

[DocH]

I predict he will he will swing to the right

I don't want ANYBODY that HAS to "swing to the right" (it makes RINO-Rudy no better than the other lying-sack-of-sh*t, Hillary).

Besides, just like a child molester (and just as vile), once a gun-grabber, ALWAYS a gun-grabber.

F**K RINO-Rudy.

[bill1952]

Of course she will do very poorly here.

But imagine if she takes just one SW state (with Richardson as VP?)
Hail to the chief Hillary Clinton.

Even if not, she takes Ohio, keeps what the nobody Kerry won, and there she is.

And that is doable.

[DocH]

That's my thinking as well- I'd rather have Rudy ten times over than McCain.

How about NEITHER of these SCUMBAG RINOS?

[Fishrrman]

SE Mom wrote:
That's my thinking as well- I'd rather have Rudy ten times over than McCain.

That is not the question conservatives face.

The _real_ question conservatives must ask themselves is this:
Would I rather have Rudy than Hillary as president?

A lot of them - a LOT of them - are going to be muttering to themselves after election day 2008 for refusing to consider Rudy before she gets elected....

No matter _which_ issues you might disagree with a President Giuliani about, you are going to disagree with President _Clinton_ (the IInd) MORE. And she is going to do more damage to the nation, regarding those issues, than Rudy Giuliani ever _dreamed_ about doing.

Doctrinaire conservatives, wake up!

- John

[finnigan2]

If I can't have a Jeb Bush/Rice ticket, I'd settle for Giuliani/Rice. He thinks fast on his feet, expresses himself clearly and persuasively and would leave Hitlery looking foolish and gasping for air in any debate.

[Artemis Webb]

I'm not really talking about the divorce. I'm talking about the private turned public affair during the marriage that led to the divorce.

[KenmcG414]

Fine! Then settle with McCain or Hillary and see what you get. When I vote I hold my nose and vote for the lesser of two evils.

[GOPRaleigh]

How about Gov. Haley Barbour?

[Wilhelm Tell]

Any gun owner licensing scheme is just a way to find out who owns what to make it easier to confiscate guns from non-criminals. However, I don't think Rudy would be a leader in a gun control crusade like Bubba Clinton was.

Leftists like Clinton are soft on criminals (except for the time Bubba wanted to look "tough" and he executed a mentally retarted prisoner). A leftist politician can sound tough and knowledgeable to the uninformed by railing against "semi-automatic revolvers" or "sniper rifles that can shoot 1,000 rounds a minute and hit a man a mile away." Such a politician will do nothing against real crime and the criminal underclass knows it. Gun control is a tool of class warfare which is why the left will never abandon it.

Giuliani, on the other hand, does not need to say ignorant things about guns to sound "tough." Unlike a fraud such as Bubba Clinton, Rudy Giuliani is the real deal. Giuliani at least understands that criminals are that way because they choose to be criminals and you can discourage crime by making it painful to be a criminal. For that reason, I don't see Giuliani leading a national gun control crusade -- he has real achievements he can stand on rather than hiding behind gun control. I could be wrong, of course.

[Non-Sequitur]

I wouldn't count him out. Anything is possible, including a deathbed conversion. People come late in life to some views.

Sure. Look at Hillary Clinton and her swing towards the right.

[Freebird Forever]

Does this statement by Giuliani on gun control fit the definition of "gun grabber?"

In a word, yes.

"I do not think the government should cut off the right to bear arms. My position for many years has been that just as a motorist must have a license, a gun owner should be required to have one as well. Anyone wanting to own a gun should have to pass a written exam that shows that they know how to use a gun, that they're intelligent enough and responsible enough to handle a gun. Should both handgun and rifle owners be licensed...we're talking about all dangerous weapons."

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed."

[Sentis]

He doesnt need the Chirstian Right vote. Who are they going to vote for Hillary? He merely needs to win the red states which he will as the default Republican and he will pick up at least one or two Blue states. In fact he would off the Bat pick up New York and Pa. Democrats would see him as a compromise candidate and he may even pick up a few more Northern Blue States.

[Wilhelm Tell]

That's what I get for not using spell-check. My spelling was retarted, er, retarded.

[Liz]

Why would his personal history doom him? So he got divorced.

RINO Rudy as a Repub contender is a horse-laugh---although Rudy's beating the bushes like crazy looking for supporters. In this Age of the Value Voter, among Rudy's huge liabilities is his personal life. Rudy's love life reads like a sordid tale from an X-rated paperback romance novel.

Rudy was first married to his cousin for 14 years, dumping her when he met Donna Hanover, then had the 14-year marriage annulled telling the Church he didn't "realize" his first wife was his second cousin.

Yeah, sure Rudy.

Mayor Rudy, while a married man and father of two, got involved with his third and present wife, escorting her publicly, and insisted his lover move into Gracie Mansion while he was still married to Donna.

Did we mention Rudy once endorsed a Democrat--Cuomo--over Pataki? And that Rudy looked the other way when his patronage appointee Russell Harding --Liberal Party's Ray Harding's son---was stealing $400,000 from the Housing Development Corp. and enjoying kiddie porn and gay vacations on the taxpayers dime?

In the Understatement of the Year, Sen Trent Lott recently warned that Guiliani's liberal views on abortion, civil unions and gay rights could make it "difficult" for him to win office as a Republican.

Trent forgot to add the Rudy would hunt down every gun, of every type, in every household in the USA and melt them down into scrap metal. Rudy doesn't need a gun. Like all rich liberals, he's got armed guards to protect him.

But I think the real vulnerability that Rudy has is his relationship with Bernard Kerik. Perhaps Rudy ought to tell voters how he plans to use failed HomeLandSec appointee Bernie Kerik's personal, business and political expertise to help him win public office (laughs uproariously).

OTOH, Rudy does look better in a dress.

This is not a photoshopped production. Rudy actually dressed like this for charity.

[Uncledave]

good post

[Freebird Forever]

I believe a Guliani/Rice ticket would be unbeatable

Two CFR lackeys would be the dream team for the globalist elite.

But I'd never trust either one of them to uphold or protect the Constitution.

[stinkypew]

Dammit people, we'd clean up if we'd just push the federalism issue. Abortion and gay marriage are simply none of the federal government's business. This goes for almost all of the other divisive social issues as well. (I'm thinking primarily of the war on drugs.)

Properly explained, this issue could bring a fair number of liberals over at the federal level. They'd still vote democrat for state level offices, but that's the benefit of a true federal system, especially in an age of easy transit. If you don't like the laws in one state, move to another where (thanks to freedom from federal constraints), the laws are more to your liking.

On abortion, I submit that several states, maybe even a third, would outlaw it.

[WalterSkinner]

Rudy was magnificent after 9\11.

But he is socially VERY liberal and would not be representative of Reagan's legacy nor a majority of Republicans.

My early choice for '08 is George Allen.

[bronxboy]

What happens when these civil unions break up as they surely will? I worked with quite a few gay men. In general, they were extremely promiscuous. It's part of the lifestyle. I am not in favor of civil unions or gay marriage whatever. Gays can sleep with whom they choose, but this should not force employers to pay for medical insurance and benefits. Firstly, in the end we would all pay for their mostly risky lifestyle in insurance premiums. In terms of estate matters gays can leave their possessions to who they choose. However they are not married and are subject to estate taxation (altthough I am against the estate tax and hope it will be repealed). I do not believe in all these 'special rights' for various groups. Gays, have a right to live as they choose, but are not candidates in my opinion for civil rights legislation.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Ronnie wasn't a gun-grabber, but he was divorced like Rudy

That's unfair. Ronnie was divorced - but it wasn't his idea. Nothing much he could do about it. And if you care about divorce, you probably care about the Bible - and it doesn't condemn the person whose wife divorces him.