Kiss the 2nd amendment goodbye....and dont expect any conservative judges to be named. and expect to have abortion to remain the law of the land for a good long time.
Posted on 07/17/2006 7:21:36 AM PDT by presidio9
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has the record, reputation and travel schedule of a serious White House contender. But it will not be easy turning "America's Mayor" into America's president.
Riding high on the acclaim for his leadership in New York after the September 11 attacks, Giuliani is a huge draw on the Republican fund-raising circuit and one of the party's most popular figures.
Some opinion polls show him joining Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) at the top of a crowded field of potential Republican candidates to succeed President George W. Bush in 2008.
But Giuliani's support for abortion rights and gay rights is likely to anger conservatives who wield considerable power in Republican primaries. And his willingness to trade a lucrative and stress-free private life for the mud pit of a presidential campaign remains uncertain.
"Giuliani is a real wild card in the race," said Republican consultant Whit Ayres.
"If he were any other normal politician you would dismiss his chances out of hand because so many of his positions are so far out of the Republican mainstream. But he's not any other politician, he's an authentic American hero whose leadership after 9/11 showed perfect political pitch."
Giuliani says he is evaluating his support and finances for a possible White House bid and will make a decision after November's congressional elections.
"That is something I'm seriously thinking about," he said of a presidential race before appearing at a fund raiser for Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich in Baltimore, the last stop on a tour that included the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Giuilani has earned millions as a consultant and motivational speaker since leaving office and avoided the kind of public scrutiny that a political campaign brings. But that could all change quickly if he runs again.
"There are candidates who are most popular just before they announce," said Republican consultant Rich Galen. "You never know for sure until it happens. You can only test these things at the ballot box."
Many Republicans, particularly candidates grateful for his help, are certain of Giuliani's appeal.
'STRONGEST CANDIDATE'
"He would be the strongest possible candidate of the present field," Ehrlich said. "Philosophically, his views are in the mainstream of where Maryland is."
Like McCain, Giuliani has supported the Iraq war and Bush's war on terrorism. He frequently praises Bush, and has appeared with conservatives like Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (news, bio, voting record) and at conservative gatherings like the Global Pastors Network.
"The president is doing a good job, the country is in better shape than is sometimes presented," Giuliani said during an appearance in Pennsylvania for Republican Lynn Swann, who is running for governor.
If national security concerns and terrorism threats still dominate the debate in 2008, Giuliani's decisive leadership in New York could trump any doubts about him on social issues.
"The issues could break in his favor. There are a lot of social issue conservatives who place terror above all other issues," said Fred Siegel, a professor at Cooper Union in New York City and author of a book on Giuliani.
"After Katrina, politicians were saying 'Where is our Giuliani?' He doesn't need to do anything to make himself prominent in these situations," he said.
"He's honest and he wears his heart on his sleeve. You just feel comfortable with the guy," said Rocky Gonzalez, a Maryland businessman who attended the Ehrlich fund-raiser.
Galen said Giuliani's political fate in 2008 could hang on whether Republicans opt for a candidate who appeals to the party's ideological base or one who reaches a broad array of voters.
"Do you want to win or are you willing to lose on the anvil of ideology? Both parties are going to have to make that decision," Galen said. "That will be the central question of the 2008 election."
Kiss the 2nd amendment goodbye....and dont expect any conservative judges to be named. and expect to have abortion to remain the law of the land for a good long time.
Likable? I suppose he is in a way, I just can't get comfortable with his gun grabbing, pro abortion, pro queer marriage ideas.
I won't vote for him in the primary nor will I vote for McCain in the primary. Wait and see what is available in the general election.
I'm alseady faced with the choice of the "lesser of two evils" right here in the Illinois governors election.
Rudy was a good mayor for a liberal city. But he is NOT A CONSERVATIVE and not what America needs. No RINOs, thank you.
Can a socially liberal Republican get the nod? If not, take out Guliani and Rice. Also, McCain can't be seen favorably, thus leaves Newt, Allen, Tancredo and Romney. I've been rooting for Allen, but Newt has been pleasing me lately; however, I don't know how controversial he'd be. He'd be a strong President, where Allen would follow in the steps of Bush. Too bad Jeb running for President would stink too much of a conspiracy, he might be able to do a better job the GW.
Imagine Hillary running against Newt, that would make for some good debates.
Rudy will wipe out the Sand Nazis and makes any Democrat unload in their pants.
I like Newt the best out of the bunch, and Allen has make making informed and intelligent statements about the war in Lebanon lately.
I need to be convinced they can win, because the stakes are really high this time. We're practically in the middle of world war III, as Gingrich himself asserted.
Rudy, cut taxes, reduced crime, improved business, beat the labor unions.
And, he is personally pro choice but it is not a litmus test for judges.
And for NYC, he is for gun control, but not necessarily for the rest of the country.
And he is for gay civil unions.
Cutting taxes, strong on war on terror, tough on crime, good for business is good enough for me.
newt and tancredo are unelectable.
out of your list, that leaves romney and allen.
guilliani has the allure of turning New York into a swing state which is a nightmare scenario for the democrats.
It is for the libs, as we just witnessed in the most recent Supreme Court appointments. They were out numbered this time but it may not always be so.
Ten bucks says he ain't even running. I think a lot of Freepers are going to be disappointed when they learn that his "candidacy" has been nothing more than a contrived fraud.
We have had more than enough presidents who can't keep their pants zipped. They don't remove Democratic presidents on moral grounds; they do Republican presidents.
Newt is brilliant, but he can't stand up to much of anyone. Bill Clinton played Newt like a cheap violin.
In a contest with Putin, Newt would be lucky to keep Putin from taking back Alaska.
Cutting taxes, strong on war on terror, tough on crime, good for business is good enough for me.
------
Your high-points for Rudy are good ones BUT, this country needs a hard-core CONSTITUTIONAL conservative. First and foremost. Through the judicial branch, and the SCOTUS, the socialsist are attacking our rights in the Constitution full force. They know that if they can knock down the Constitution, liberalism will become the agenda for America. They have been working hard at this and we saw it with the egregious attack on the Fifth Amendment by the socialists on the SCOTUS.
Without a staunch Constitutionalist, we are in BIG TROUBLE. And add to that, someone who is a patriot, and believes in our laws and our borders.
If Newt runs against Rodham-Clinton, all baggage goes out the window.
If Rudy took New York, the democrats would go into a totally insane rabid froth!!!
If Rudy is not the Republican nominee, he will run as an independent, and I think he will win.
Bush did, and I'm not sure that Republicans are overly happy with his particular social policy.
McCain and Guliani are somewhat different than Bush in their social policy. In many ways both are more liberal than Bush. I really don't think that either Guliani or McCain stand a remote chance of winning the Republican nomination.
Rice is a little more of an unknown for me. As SOS she's been a major spokesman for Bush's policies, but I don't know enough about her personal views at this point to form a solid opinion.
I think the real candidates are going to keep their heads town for a little while yet. There's nothing to be gained from allowing the left to concentrate a 2+ year smear campaign on them. Between the liberal media and the amazingly well funded liberal groups like moveon.org.
The war in Iraq has shown us rather clearly that if the media just keeps pushing out an ever-present bad message, people end up having a low opinion of the target of that message after a while even if they don't feel that those pushing the message have any real credibility. They just wear people down.
It would just be another Ross Perot fiasco that would hand the presidency to the democrats.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.