"If life were only this easy."
Posted on 02/01/2006 5:23:40 AM PST by areafiftyone
Political pundits have long discounted former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's presidential prospects, claiming that his particular brand of tough-talking, socially moderate conservatism would never play south of the Mason-Dixon Line. But Rudy has never been one to listen to conventional wisdom, and lately at least, he has been turning up the heat in southern conservative political circles.
In just the last week, he endorsed Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry for re-election and met with Evangelicals in Florida. Most impressively, he actually outpaced U.S. Senator John McCain in a just-released Georgia poll, garnering the support of 28 percent of Georgia Republicans to McCain's 22 percent, echoing numbers in December's CNN/USA Today/Gallup nationwide poll. The conservative blog, RightWingNews reported last week that while Condoleezza Rice was the top choice of 230 conservative bloggers for the Republican nomination, Giuliani came in second, beating out U.S. Senator George Allen and Newt Gingrich. Nationwide, Rudy earned a 63 percent favorable rating in a Pew Research Center poll in October.
In addition to supporting Perry, Giuliani has planted a Texas-sized footstep in the Lone Star State—now with three more Electoral College votes than New York. Last spring, he became a name partner in a Houston law firm, Bracewell and Giuliani, noted for its Bush connections and roster of major energy clients.
The Catholic mayor is also busy burnishing his ties to Christian conservatives. Pat Robertson has said Rudy would make "a good president" and the mayor was a headliner for a fundraising committee supporting former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed in his bid to be Georgia's lieutenant governor. Last week, Giuliani dropped by an Orlando meeting of the Global Pastors Network and told the Evangelical leaders that "only God knows" if he will run for president. The group offered their prayers for him and he responded in kind, showing an openly devout side not many people had seen before: "I can't tell you from my heart how much I appreciate what you are doing—saving people, telling them about Jesus Christ and bringing them to God."
Still, Giuliani's southern strategy may be an uphill climb. "It's a real stretch for Giuliani to get out voters in southern Republican primaries," Richard Murray, head of the University of Houston's Center for Public Policy said. "He has too much baggage to get through the southern primaries." Murray said Giuliani's best shot may be as a "ticket balancer," a moderate vice president to a conservative ticket leader, especially if Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee.If that were the case, and Rudy got to take on the senator from New York, he would feel right at home, no matter where he was stumping for votes.
I really, really like George Allen, but he's just not catching fire in any polls I've seen...
I've gotten tired of correcting people from outside the city on Rudy. They see him on TV during 9/11 and think they "know" about him.
You'd vote for Hillary over Rudy?????
Zell Miller has already stated he's not running.
Not even a toss up for me -- I'll take Rudy in a heartbeat over McCain... MC scares me, Rudy doesn't, at least he would be tough on crime and on terror and I think he could suprise us on the borders, too... unlike John Mc who went all over AZ telling everyone not to vote for Prop 200 last year (passed with a hefty margin, too)....
You left out anti-gun rights and anti-business.
If Rudy wants to play carpetbagger, go ahead, but he won't get anywhere in the South with his views.
Rudy is anti-business?
Yes, he strongarmed through regulations and shutdown any business he didn't like in New York City.
"If life were only this easy."
You obviously don't remember when Rudy refused to enforce the 1996 immigration laws, stating that "New York was open to ALL immigrants" legal or illegal, and that he would not allow authorities to report illegal students in the public schools.
Guiliani is the only one who can beat Hillary.
He would mop the floor with her in EVERY debate.
Allen the darling of FR would loooose to Hillary. After two good ole boys...Bubba and W.... the country won't do it again. It wants a change.
I pretty much remember Rudy beating on the UN like a government mule right to there faces after 9/11
<I will vote for Rudy if I have to.
Same here, but he ain't a true paleoconservative.
Good point, AFA poll did not even list him as an option.
Rudy kissed the a-s of UN dignitaries except when it came to parking tickets.
It doesn't matter, he aint gonna get the nomination, no matter how hard his friend Rupert Murdoch tries.
Now, having said that, I really think Rudy would be better off running for Governor or the Senate. It would be fun to see him applauding an outgoing President Bush during his last State of the Union speech in Shrillary's old seat.
Businesses he didn't like? Why didn't he like them? Were these businesses rude to him at a cocktail party? They insult him during a campaign stop? The factory jobs left NYC to make room for other businesses. If NYC is about anything, it's about business.
Trust me, the Giuliani administration would have the ethic of the Grant administration and the social life of the Trudeau administration up in Canada.
Like I said-I would prefer to vote for Allen. Rudy is not everybody's cup of tea, but he would still be far better than the alternative of allowing She Who Awaits and her intern-chasing eunuch back into the White House.
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