Posted on 08/21/2006 6:16:02 AM PDT by areafiftyone
The S.C. Republican Party’s sponsorship of “An Evening Honoring Rudy Giuliani” last week spoke volumes.
It reflected what some said is a shift in attitude toward GOP candidates with more liberal views on social issues.
There’s a greater degree of tolerance and acceptance, party officials said.
Giuliani, who rose to national prominence for his take-charge performance after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, supports gay rights, gun control and legalized abortion, which puts him at odds with most Republicans.
Nevertheless, he has traveled the country extensively on behalf of GOP candidates this year while acknowledging his own interest in a possible 2008 presidential bid.
Although his liberal stance on social issues is likely to disqualify him with religious conservatives, the former New York City mayor remains in great demand as a speaker before Republican groups.
In this visit — his first major political trip to South Carolina — Giuliani attended a fundraiser for conservative GOP congressional candidate Ralph Norman, the one-term state representative who is challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. John Spratt, a 24-year House veteran in a hotly contested race in the 5th District.
Giuliani ended the day in Charleston at a star-studded $2,500-a-couple fundraiser for the state Republican Party.
He packed the place.
“Rudy is a very popular figure,” GOP chairman Katon Dawson said. “We didn’t have any problem with him coming.”
Giuliani, affectionately known as “America’s mayor,” is seen as middle-of-the-road by most voters nationally, according to Rasmussen Reports, an electronic survey company.
It found 36 percent of Americans see him as a political moderate, 29 percent said conservative, and 15 percent said liberal. Twenty percent are not sure.
Former state GOP chairman Barry Wynn said the party needs to take a fresh look at the way it regards new voters, especially those new residents who’ve settled along the coast and are starting to have an impact on state party politics.
Those voters tend to be more progressive in outlook and are more inclined to support someone like Giuliani.
“I think Rudy could be more popular in South Carolina than most people would think,” Wynn said.
The debate in 2008 isn’t going to be about tax cuts, abortion or Social Security reform — Republican favorites.
“The overarching issues this time will be national security and leadership,” Wynn said. “Everything else will fit under that.”
Such a scenario favors Giuliani, Greenville consultant Chip Felkel said.
Francis Marion University political scientist Neal Thigpen, a GOP activist, said Giuliani is in a “special category.”
He’s a “glittering personality” with star quality who can get away with supporting legalized abortion and gay rights.
His position on those social issues “would not hurt him as bad over the long haul as one may think. If John McCain had the same position, it would hurt him a lot worse.”
Needless to say, the hard-core religious right won’t surrender territory on social issues. They’d rather go down in flames than win.
But unless terrorists no longer are a threat to the United States, national security and leadership will be at the top of the issues heap in 2008.
Voters won’t be concerned about gay rights or abortion. What matters most will be their own security in a volatile world.
And the candidate who stands to benefit is Giuliani.
“If your house is on fire,” Wynn said, “you want a guy with the hose.”
(((((PING)))))))
Another dose of "Force the Liberal RINO Down the Conservatives' Throats"...
((( pinng )))
Wrong, I will not vote for him.
If you want to see hatred of dissent, look at Democrats.
That being said, Rudy won't get my support for the nomination. I love him, but he's not a social conservative and so he's not getting my vote.
Regardless of who was polled, conservatives will not vote for the candidates who stand against them on the issues:
Abortion
Partial Birth Abortion
Higher Taxes
Gun Control and/or Confiscation
Religious issues
Homosexual Agenda
School Vouchers
Illegal Invaders and/or Immigrants Amnesty
Pick any issue, and ask these candidates where they stand.
The results will shock everyone.
He, and McCain, won't get my vote for nomination. If nominated, they won't get my vote for president.
If the choice did come down to Guiliani or an unstable McCain, I would probably have to go with McCain.
Flame away; I don't give a dime.
LOL! That has to qualify as the dumbest statement of the day!
Tough choice; support the socially liberal RINO or surrender to the RATS. Have we any real conservative candidate who would have Rudy's impact, a probable winner?
I can't think of one.
No Flames. You are entitled to your opinion of Rudy. I personally will vote for him for the nomination. I don't give a darn about social issues when this country is in danger of being attacked or nuked. I want someone to protect us. Rudy is the only one not afraid to kick out a Palestinian out of NY and shove a check back in the face of a Saudi Prince. But if Rudy loses the nomination I will vote for whomever wins, be it Allen, McCain (GAG!!), or whomever.
I don't consider fudge packing, gun grabbing, or baby killing to be progress.
Wait until after this November's elections. Then the contenders will start appearing.
Oh Really? If we are attacked - what will be on everyone's mind? Abortion or Terrorists? You decide?
Except it won't be 'either-or' in the primaries. For most republicans, it is 'both'!
What is it with Republicans wanting to morph into pro-war Democrats? I don't trust Democrats to prosecute a war properly. I don't trust Democrats at all. And, there's more behind that distrust than simply a label or a name. Abandon religious conservatives and lose the south, no matter what the high muckety-mucks might be smoking these days, in the South Carolina Republican leadership, or the RNC for that matter. Here we go again.
Many people see abortion and terrorism both as acts of murder. In any case, we shouldn't have to choose one or the other, two years before the presidential election.
We get threatened every day. Nothing will force conservatives to give up their ideals and fundamental moral beliefs, not even Rudy -- the Russian mafia sweetheart.
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