Posted on 01/25/2007 8:32:31 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Rudy Giuliani's star has hardly dimmed in the five years since terrorists attacked his city on Sept. 11, 2001, and he became a national hero _ the face of U.S. resolve at a time of tragedy.
The Republican dubbed "America's Mayor" hopes to ride that celebrity and his record at City Hall to the White House by emphasizing his leadership skills and embracing the strong-on-security, limited-government tenets of the GOP.
"If he can handle the scrutiny, and if events break his way, sure, he can win," said Fred Siegel, who wrote a Giuliani biography, "The Prince of the City."
Giuliani's quest to capture his party's presidential nomination won't be easy.
He's a moderate Republican from New York City, on the wrong side of social issues in the eyes of hard-core conservatives who are a crucial voting bloc in the primaries. His mayoral tenure was marked by criticism of an overzealous police force. He's linked to the city's scandal-plagued ex-police chief Bernard Kerik. His thicket of business interests could pose conflicts. He's been divorced twice.
"I sure have strengths and weaknesses," Giuliani said recently. "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 weaknesses worse? I don't know. You have to sort of examine that. That won't be the issue."
His challenge will be to remind voters of his take-charge attitude on Sept. 11 and his two-term mayoral reign, at the same time his main rivals _ Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) of Arizona and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney _ no doubt will try to exploit his background and record. For now, both are trying to gauge how much of a threat he may be.
Giuliani, who formed a presidential exploratory committee last year, is betting that the Republican rank-and-file will look past his liabilities. His aides dismiss skeptics who say he has too many flaws to win over primary voters a year from now.
"I believe they'll look at the picture as a whole," said Tony Carbonetti, Giuliani's longtime political adviser. "This (New York) was an unmanageable city, and I think what people want today is a manager, someone to lead in difficult times and to lead in not-difficult times.
"We're going to continue to tell that story," he said.
Before Sept. 11, Giuliani was known as the hard-charging prosecutor-turned-politician who cleaned up Times Square, led the city out of fiscal despair and brought Republican rule back to the liberal mecca.
Giuliani, of course, made enemies in the process, but on Sept. 11 even his chronic critics were muted when he took charge amid the rubble of the World Trade Center's twin towers. To many, he became a picture of strength, a reminder of the resilience of the American spirit.
"He has a connection to that. He is unique. On the other hand you look at the politics and you say this is a problem," said Alex Vogel, a Republican strategist in Washington who is not affiliated with any presidential candidate.
"The question is: Can you win a Republican primary a different way? History keeps saying no. But history has never presented us with someone whose favorability numbers are as high as Rudy's."
Indeed, national polls have consistently shown him leading for the GOP nomination, and early surveys in key states show him ahead or competitive. He travels to one important state, New Hampshire, this weekend where he will give the keynote address at the state GOP's annual meeting.
For all the hype since 2001, Giuliani didn't start preparing for a presidential run in earnest until after November's elections. Thus, he has lagged behind McCain and Romney in courting fundraisers, setting up a national organization and hiring ground operatives in key states, although he has made progress on all fronts recently.
Giuliani's aides insist they're making strides toward filling out his campaign. They say he can raise the $80 million to $100 million necessary this year for a serious run. Name recognition, obviously, isn't an issue.
Neither, his supporters argue, is likability. They say he appeals to people across the political spectrum and in every region of the country, meaning he could expand the general election playing field. That, his backers say, makes him the Republican most likely to beat the presumptive Democratic front-runner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.
Perhaps.
But first he has to capture the GOP nomination _ and the big question is whether he can win over enough Republicans in states like Iowa and South Carolina, among the first nominating contests where voters are solid conservatives and could be turned off by his stance on social issues.
"Giuliani is going to have to convince people that he's more conservative than his record otherwise would suggest," said Peverill Squire, who teaches politics at the University of Iowa.
The former mayor's support for abortion rights, gay rights and gun control conflict with the hard-line positions of the GOP's right. His supporters say he's not as liberal on those issues as he's made out to be. Still, he's from New York _ and that alone rankles the party's conservative wing.
Despite that, Giuliani's backers contend _ and some Republican strategists agree _ that he could get support from fiscal conservatives because of his record of cutting taxes, curbing spending and promoting small government, particularly now when the base is smarting over the soaring federal deficit under Republicans.
And, with the country still at war, his link to Sept. 11 _ the brand of a strong leader _ could trump the base's concerns about his background and stand on social issues.
"Giuliani's national security credentials will allow him to span ideological divides in the Republican Party and win conservative votes," said Greg Strimple, a GOP strategist in New York who is neutral in the race.
Unknown is whether Giuliani can woo enough of those base Republican voters to win the nomination and, if not, whether he can make up the difference by attracting independents and Democrats.
"His opening could come if people really think that somebody like Hillary is running away with it, and if there's a perception that only Giuliani can beat her," said John Truscott, an unaffiliated Republican strategist in Michigan.
Another factor that could help Giuliani is how the primary calendar shakes out.
New Hampshire and Michigan hold early contests, and New Jersey, California, Illinois, Florida and other states viewed as more hospitable to a moderate may schedule their votes earlier in the year, perhaps lessening the importance of a strong showing for Giuliani in Iowa and South Carolina.
For all the obstacles, even folks with ties to Giuliani's opponents can't deny that the New Yorker has a shot.
Said Ken Khachigian of California, who served as a strategist for President Reagan and was with McCain in 2000: "I would never sell Giuliani short."
It ain't gonna happen.
L
I don't much care for posters who mock the name of Reagan, who didn't care who supported him. He welcomed those on either side of the political spectrum.
Fine. Just don't bother inviting me to any pity party you plan on having in the future.
Looks like you've run out of any legitimate remarks and have lowered yourself into the gutter. Look pal, I honor Reagan's name. When you revert to attacking someones screen name, you've lost the debate. Except in this case, you never engaged in real debate. Just tired rhetoric from tired FReeper. LOL
No problem.
But tell me something please. Why on Earth would someone on a conservative board advocate voting for a pro-abortion, pro gun control, big spending New York RINO?
Is 'electability' now the watchword?
What kind of judges do you think Rudy would nominate?
And finally; what good are Republican principles if the candidate doesn't embrace them?
L
I'm not advocating or supporting Guiliani.
What kind of judges do you think Rudy would nominate?
Same ones Bush nominated. He supported every one that got nominated.
And finally; what good are Republican principles if the candidate doesn't embrace them?
I thought conservative principles mattered to some of you purists.
Run along to bed, if I need you to knock around in a debate, I'll ping you. You're relieved of duty knave.
I'm here, right now. So far, all you've done is knock yourself stupid. The rants of a juvenile. I don't call that debate, boy.
Rudy is a liberal. He's also a nice guy, bright, charming, witty. Many are deceived and (think they) will be satisfied with a hollow victory with a "R" next to it.
Others are just confused, biding their time, looking for answers. That's fine.
Still others insinuate that all the non-Rudys out there McCain excepted are "pure" and their supporters "purists" - insatiable spoiled children. Earlier in the thread I gave a reason for, for example, an uncompromising position on abortion, a reason why it is not to be treated as "just another issue" of equal weight. For me, I would sooner vote for a Democrat that a Republican providing he ran on a pledge to illegalize abortion and enact strict enforcement and imprisonment for abortionists on his first day in office - and diversion of all Planned Parenthood funding to the nation's pregnancy centers instead. A national day of mourning for the 49,000,000 innocent lives taken - people we will never meet, people whose lives ended brutally at the altar of convenience - would be a most appropriate gesture - to be held every Jan 22.
The other issues you mentioned are also quite important: Without our guns, who's to stop the governemnt from taking our children, our possessions, our homes? Who is to defend his fervent belief that no child be schooled on the Lord's Day, for example, when Congress forces public schools open on Sundays since, after all, their "science" has proven there's no basis for Sabbath observance since there's no God. (Actually, without the transcendent axioms on which science rest, which can ONLY make sense in a Universe harmonized and orchestrated by an omniscient God, science could not exist, but that's another discussion.) IOW the freedom of religion our Constitution guarantees is protected by our arms.
So these are two very important issues. Gay marriage is important as well because its inception would represent a further erosion of our collective perception of absolute truth.
These are all reasons why I'm opposing Rudy as President. BTW I think he would be an asset in the correct post - just not any post where he can touch any moral issue with a ten-foot pole.
Sorry, my mistake.
I thought conservative principles mattered to some of you purists.
They do to me.
L
You haven't laid one good punch on me boy.
We're in basic agreement about Rudy. I won't vote for any candidate that is not pro-life. But you won't find me ever voting for a Democrat either. 2008 is going to be a tough year for the GOP. With the wrong candidate at the top of the ticket, Republicans are guaranteed to lose. 2006 should've been a wake up call to ALL Republicans. Clearly some GOP folks are still sound asleep.
That is not entirely true, bucko. Frankly you've been doing a good job of beating yourself up in recent posts. Don't let me stop ya.
Like I said, you're all about cut and paste. No original thought of your own. You're spoonfed everything you think and believe.
There you go again. You just can't stick to the topic. You'd rather jab at people with dumba$$ remarks, then debate issues. That's because you're not a serious person. Just another mindless bot.
Good heavens, did no one think to ping you to this thread ? ;-)
Give me something worthy of debate then maybe you won't be so downtrodden.
I don't like htis any better than any other conservative but here's what I think we have to do. Quit the infighting and support a Rudy/Romney ticket. At least Rudy has proved that he's a leader. Romeny will appeal to "moderates" of both persuasions, and would help make an eventual transition to a conservative candidate easier.
Then while we endure a RINO Rudy presidency, maybe even a Romney administration, we get together and find a strong conservative candidate to run in the next available cycle.
Of course this all assumes things remain pretty much status quo globally and economically in the US.
FWIW In typing this I just noticed a Rudy/Romney ticket is RR, not that they come close to The Man. I've been watching RR clips on YouTube overnight, especially the tributes and the ones with his "Tear down this wall" speech.
Good Lord I miss The Gipper...
prisoner6
Is it REALLY too much to ask for the republicans to nominate a solid conservative? Must they continually provide choices that we have to vote for as the lesser of two evils?
I'd pick Rudy over Hillary anytime.
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.