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Republicans Should Stay Optimistic and On Offense

For the past six months, I've been traveling across the country campaigning for Republican candidates. Conventional wisdom from Washington predicts a tough year for the party. By playing offense, solidifying our ranks and reaching out to Reagan Democrats and Independents, I believe that Republicans have reason to be optimistic. Because on the big issues Americans care about - from national security to the economy to the Supreme Court - Republican leadership has delivered time and again on its promises.

Republicans are united by our belief in going on offense to win the war on terror. Five years ago, our nation learned a painful lesson about the dangers of an inconsistent approach to dealing with the evil of terrorism. In his speech to Congress on September 20th, 2001, President Bush declared that we would go on offense against terrorists, and he has made good on that promise. Terrorists have been destabilized and put on defense around the world - including Afghanistan and Iraq.

Americans should remember the positive impact of tax cuts on our economy. Most Republicans agree with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush that tax cuts are a powerful stimulus to the economy - that's why I cut taxes 23 times as Mayor of New York. Most Democrats disagree with that philosophy - it's an honest disagreement. But let's look at the results: Today, we have a 4.4% unemployment rate in our country - lower than the average in the 70's, 80's and 90's. The stock market recently hit 12,000 - an all-time high. And the lower tax rate is generating more revenue than the higher rate did before - $250 billion more than last year. Republicans stand for lower taxes; Democrats stand for higher taxes - it's as simple as that.

Finally, let's look at the Republican record on judges. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito are models of what judges should be in this country. They are principled individuals who can be trusted to defend the original intent of the Constitution rather than trying to legislate their own political beliefs from the bench. The successful appointments of Justices Roberts and Alito are signs of promises kept.

But there is still more work to do: more promises that need to be kept.

When I talk to people across America, I hear their frustration with the gridlock and scandals from Washington. As a former U.S. Attorney, I spent much of my career bringing corrupt government officials from both parties to justice. Neither party has a monopoly on virtue or vice - but we do have legitimate differences in terms of our ideas and vision for the future. And those principled differences should guide Americans' decisions on Election Day.

The people I've been talking with on the campaign trail want to see government get serious about fiscal discipline by cutting wasteful spending. American families want to see a revitalized education system with accountability, putting the focus on the students, increased school choice and higher standards, so that the United States can continue to be economically competitive throughout the 21st Century. They want us to do more to secure our borders while working to ensure that the virtues of legal immigration and assimilation are respected. They want us to move more aggressively toward greater energy independence.

But of course, the most important piece of unfinished business facing the nation is winning the war on terror.

In the era of President Truman and President Eisenhower, people used to say that "Partisan politics should end at the waters' edge." But lately some influential political voices seem to have forgotten this American tradition. The war on terror is not about "red" versus "blue" states - it is about right versus wrong; it is about good overcoming evil.

That's why these mid-term elections are so important. That's why we can't turn back. That is why Republicans need to solidify our ranks while reaching out with confidence. Because the issues that unite us as Republicans are the same issues that unite the vast majority of Americans: a commitment to winning the war on terror; a core belief in fiscal conservatism; and a faith in individual freedom. Advancing these principles, while staying on offense, can help keep the GOP a strong majority party in the United States.

Rudy Giuliani is the former Mayor of New York City.

The Quotable Rudolph W. Giuliani

The New York State Liberal Party on Rudy Giuliani:

Some ask, How can the Liberal Party support a candidate who disagrees with the Liberal Party position on so many gut issues? But when the Liberal Party Policy Committee reviewed a list of key social issues of deep concern to progressive New Yorkers, we found that Rudy Giuliani agreed with the Liberal Party's stance on a majority of such issues. He agreed with the Liberal Party's views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits. As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani would uphold the Constitutional and legal rights to abortion.
--N.Y.S. Liberal Party Endorsement Statement of R. Giuliani for Mayor of New York City April 8, 1989

On the Republican Party:

Mr. Rockefeller represented "a tradition in the Republican Party I've worked hard to re-kindle - the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition."

--Rudy Giuliani
New York Times
July 9, 1992

What kind of Republican? Is [Giuliani], for instance, a Reagan Republican? [Giuliani] pauses before answering: "I'm a Republican."

--Village Voice
January 24, 1989

On Attending 1996 Republican Convention:

Rudy even expressed his pleasure when he wasn't invited to the Republican National Convention in San Diego. "If I take three or four days off from city business, I want to do it for a substantive purpose. It didn't seem to me any substantive purpose could be served by going to the Republican convention."

--Rudy - An Investigative
Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,
Page 459, Wayne Barrett

On Barry Goldwater:

He [Giuliani] described John Kennedy as "great and brilliant." Barry Goldwater was an "incompetent, confused and sometimes idiotic man."

--New York Daily News,
May 13, 1997

On President Bill Clinton:

Shortly before his last-minute endorsement of Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential election, [Giuliani] told the Post's Jack Newfield that "most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." The Daily News quoted [Giuliani] as saying that March: "Whether you talk about President Clinton, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group."

Revealing at one point that he was "open" to the idea of endorsing Clinton, he explained: "When I ran for mayor both times, '89 and '93, I promised people that I would be, if not bipartisan, at least open to the possibility of supporting Democrats."

--Rudy - An Investigative
Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,
Wayne Barrett, Page 459

Rudy Giuliani's October 1994 Endorsement of Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo:

"From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, ‘Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?' Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo."

--Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City
Andrew Kirtzman, Page 133

Reaction to Giuliani Endorsement of Cuomo:

"Once again, Rudolph Giuliani has demonstrated that liberalism is the foundation of his political philosophy. While Giuliani sold a bill of goods to trusting Republicans and Reagan Democrats that he had abandoned his roots as a McGovern Democrat, in his endorsement of Mario Cuomo, Mr. Liberal himself, he has shown his true colors. Giuliani's argument that Cuomo will be better for the city has a hollow ring to it. Perhaps Rudy wants a governor who will sign over a blank check to constantly bail out the city from its fiscal problems. Giuliani knows, as do all New Yorkers, that Cuomo's liberal policies have been an economic disaster for our city and state."

"But Rudy doesn't care. He has proven he will do anything to stop the election of a conservative Republican - but he won't succeed."

--Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S. Conservative
Party Press Statement, October 25, 1994

"[Quite] frankly, you have to understand the fact that Rudy Giuliani was a McGovern Democrat, he was endorsed by the Liberal Party when he ran for Mayor. In his heart, he's a Democrat. He's paraded all over this country with Bill Clinton and, in fact, he's very comfortable with Mario Cuomo. But what Rudy Giuliani wants is to be bailed out in the city, in the mess he's in, and everybody understands very clearly in politics that they struck a deal, that Mario's going to continue to be the big spender, save Rudy the options of raising taxes by pouring money statewide into the City of New York and bailing it out. Quite frankly, I predict that he will join the Democratic Party."

--Interview with Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S.
Conservative Party,
CNN Crossfire, October 25, 1994

On Gay Domestic-Partner Rights:

National Republicans can lump it if they don't like his new domestic-partners bill, Mayor Giuliani said yesterday.

"I really haven't thought about what the impact is on Republican politics or national politics or Democratic politics," Giuliani said.

The bill he submitted to the City Council would extend the benefits city agencies must grant to gay and lesbian couples.

"I'm proud of it," Giuliani said of the bill. "I think it puts New York City ahead of other places in the country."

--New York Daily News, May 13, 1998

On Gay-Rights\Gay Rights Bill:

Giuliani favors extended civil-rights protection for gays and lesbians. Giuliani urged, by letter, to the New York Senate Majority Leader to pass the state's first ever gay rights bill, but did it privately.

"I am writing to convey my support for the current legislation to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians, and to urge you to allow the bill onto the floor of the Senate for prompt action."

"...It is my belief that we can penalize discrimination [against gays] without creating any potentially objectionable special privileges or preferential treatment."

--New York Post, June 5, 1993

Now Rudy Giuliani has jumped on the bandwagon, pressing the state Republican Party to release a gay-rights bill to the Senate floor for a vote. Marching in Sunday's [Gay Pride] parade, he has enlisted in the struggle to destroy the family. What a perfectly abominable springboard to seek high political office.

--Ray Kerrison
New York Post, June 30, 1993

Giuliani said homosexuality is "good and normal."

--Ray Kerrison
New York Post, July 7, 1989

On Gay Domestic Partnership:

"I have no objection to the concept of domestic partnership."

--Rudy Giuliani
Informed Sources
New York T.V. Show (PBS), May, 1992

On Abortion:

Leaflets distributed by the Giuliani campaign .... said that he opposes restrictions to Federal Medicaid financing for abortions and opposes the Hyde Amendment, which is intended to deny support for that financing.

--New York Times, June 18, 1993

"I'd give my daughter the money for it [an abortion]."

"I never called for the overturning of Roe vs. Wade."

--Rudy Giuliani
New York Newsday, September 1, 1989

As mayor, Rudy Giuliani will uphold a woman's right of choice to have an abortion. Giuliani will fund all city programs which provide abortions to insure that no woman is deprived of her right due to an inability to pay. He will oppose reductions in state funding. He will oppose making abortion illegal.

--New York Times, August 4, 1989

On Partial Birth Abortion:

Mr. Giuliani has said that New York State law should not be changed to outlaw the procedure.

-- New York Times, January 7, 1998

On School Choice:

"I wanted to know if he supports tuition tax credits and vouchers, which he doesn't."

--Sandra Feldman, President of N.Y.C.
Teacher's Union, 1993

On Taxes:

[Giuliani] says ruling out a tax increase is "political pandering."

--Newsday, August 31, 1989

a51 - As I've said before. I admire Rudy for the way he held the city and in a way the country together on and after 911. When I remember him in those press conferences, my still pounds. I'm a manly kind of guy and I don't mind saying, I love Rudy! (phileo in the Bible "friend" so it's not the wig you see)

Also he was a taxcutter in NYC. That was good for their economy. He also dealt VERY effectively with crime. This was actually his greatest claim as Mayor prior to 911.

His views (reaffirmed pretty forcibly as early as November of last year) on abortion, gay marriage etc. leave him way out of step with a huge section of the GOP voting BLOC. And it is a section that the GOP has not been able to win a national election without since at least before Reagan (and I'm trying to figure in the off years and how we were able to do on congressional races nationwide too).

It is not a matter of people threatening to stay home or vote independent or even God forbid cross over to the Dem's. It is a matter of not firing up this indespensable part of the base. If they feel they have no dog in the hunt then they just don't go vote. It is just "Not that important." to them.

I will work hard for Rudy if he gets the nomination because as I have said I fear the damage that Democrats will do. However, Rudy makes me a little afraid with his liberal social views. Just because he approves of Bush's judges doesn't mean he will be drawing from the same group when he makes his appointments. The qualities that Rudy refers to in adherence to the constitution are going to be very different than what I would refer to.

The only hope Rudy would have in rallying the Christians attention would be to hammer the WOT day in and day out as a clash of religions. I just don't think he would be willing to do that. But I might be wrong.