Rudy and the Republican Nomination

http://www.joinrudy2008.com/News/DocumentPrint.aspx?DocumentID=19580 ^ | 2 Feb 2007 | Brent Seaborn, Strategy Director

[PhiKapMom]

Rudy and the Republican Nomination

New York, Feb 2 -

To:	Team Rudy
From:	Brent Seaborn, Strategy Director
Date:	February 2, 2007
Re:	Rudy and the Republican Nomination

Over the last month or two there has been a good deal of public opinion polling on the 2008 Republican primary race. I thought it would be helpful to take a step back and take a closer look at how voters – particularly Republican primary voters – feel about Rudy Giuliani and why we think we are well-positioned heading in to the primary season.

Americans Have a Highly Favorable Opinion of Mayor Giuliani
Entering the 2008 primary season, Rudy Giuliani is uniquely positioned among potential Republican candidates because of his extremely high favorability ratings. Recent public opinion polling shows Mayor Giuliani with 61% approval among adults across the country – according to the ABC News/Washington Post poll (Jan. 16-19, 2007). The well respected, bipartisan Battleground Poll (Jan 8-11, 2007) shows the Mayor with 65% favorability among likely voters. More importantly, Mayor Giuliani shows an 81% favorable rating among Republicans and only 10% with an unfavorable opinion.

According to the Battleground poll, Mayor Giuliani also has surprisingly high favorability ratings beyond the base:

• 70% of independents are favorable,
• 70% of 35-44 year olds,
• 74% of married women,
• 73% of households married with children,
• 52% of minority voters

The Mayor also enjoys strong approval among white evangelical Christians (76%) and self-described conservative Republicans (82%).

In an even more recent poll, Gallup (Jan. 25-28, 2007) finds Mayor Giuliani also leads among Republicans on 7 of 10 key issues including terrorism, the economy, healthcare and fighting crime. He also leads on 11 of 15 key candidate attributes – including “better understands the problems faced by ordinary Americans”, “would manage government more effectively” and what I believe to be the single most important factor – “is the stronger leader.”

In sum, while we fully expect these polls to tighten in the months and weeks to come, Republican voters genuinely know and like Rudy Giuliani.

The Mayor Performs Well in Opinion Polls
The Mayor’s exceptionally strong approval ratings also translate in to an advantage on Republican primary ballot tests. In 11 of 13 ballot tests in respected national public opinion polls [Fox News, Newsweek, Time Gallup, CNN, NBC/Wall Street Journal, ABC/Washington Post] since last November, Mayor Giuliani has a lead – in fact, his lead is on average, more than 5-points over the next closest candidate. And his ballot strength began to trend upward after the 2006 midterm elections.

Mayor Giuliani Leads in Key 2008 Primary States
Mayor Giuliani also leads in a series of other states that will likely prove critical in the 2008 Republican primary:

State	Mayor Giuliani	Closest Competitor	Source
California	33%	19% (Gingrich)	ARG - Jan. 11-17
Florida	30%	16% (Gingrich)	ARG - Jan. 4-9
Illinois	33%	24% (McCain)	ARG - Jan. 11-14
Michigan	34%	24% (McCain)	ARG - Jan. 4-7
Nevada	31%	25% (McCain)	ARG - Dec. 19-23, ‘06
New Jersey	39%	21% (McCain)	Quinnipiac – Jan. 16-22
North Carolina	34%	26% (McCain)	ARG - Jan. 11-15
Ohio	30%	22% (McCain)	Quinnipiac - Jan. 23-28
Pennsylvania	35%	25% (McCain)	ARG Jan. 4-8
Texas	28%	26% (McCain)	Baselice Jan. 17-21

Conclusion
Recent polling continues to suggest Mayor Giuliani is very well positioned within the party – particularly when compared to other potential Republican candidates – to win the nomination.

Mayor Giuliani’s favorable public opinion stems not only from his extraordinary leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and in the uncertainty that followed, but also from a remarkably strong record of accomplishments in fighting crime and turning around New York City’s economy in the 1990’s.

Americans are anxious for fresh Republican leadership on a range of issues. Our voters are drawn to the leadership strength of a candidate during an election. Therefore, as we move forward with exploring a run for President and as we continue to share the Mayor’s story of strong leadership and Reagan-like optimism and vision, we hope to see continued growth in our foundation of support.

[oceanview]

anyone who has ever had concrete poured in NY or NJ, is "connected to a mob firm".

[oceanview]

nationally, nobody even knows who Bernard Kerik is.

[narses]

Babykilling is factual:

The Real Rudy Giuliani:

From Human Events:

Rudy's Strong Pro-Abortion Stance

As these comments from a 1989 conversation with Phil Donahue show, Rudy Giuliani is staunchly in favor of abortion:

"I've said that I'll uphold a woman's right of choice, that I will fund abortion so that a poor woman is not deprived of a right that others can exercise, and that I would oppose going back to a day in which abortions were illegal.

I do that in spite of my own personal reservations. I have a daughter now; if a close relative or a daughter were pregnant, I would give my personal advice, my religious and moral views ...

Donahue: Which would be to continue the pregnancy.

Giuliani: Which would be that I would help her with taking care of the baby. But if the ultimate choice of the woman - my daughter or any other woman - would be that in this particular circumstance [if she had] to have an abortion, I'd support that. I'd give my daughter the money for it."

Worse yet, Giuliani even supports partial birth abortion:

"I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights,Giuliani said. He was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions. "No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing," he responded." -- CNN.com, "Inside Politics" Dec 2, 1999

It's bad enough that Rudy is so adamantly pro-abortion, but consider what that could mean when it comes time to select Supreme Court Justices. Does the description of Giuliani that you've just read make you think he's going to select an originalist like Clarence Thomas, who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade -- or does it make you think he would prefer justices like Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy who'd leave Roe v. Wade in place?

Rudy's abortion stance is bad news for conservatives who are pro-life or who are concerned about getting originalist judges on the Supreme Court.

An Anti-Second Amendment Candidate

In the last couple of election cycles, 2nd Amendment issues have moved to the back burner mainly because even Democratic candidates have learned that being tagged with the "gun grabber" label is political poison.

Unfortunately, Rudy Giuliani is a proponent of gun control who supported the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapon Ban.

Do Republicans really want to abandon their strong 2nd Amendment stance by selecting a pro-gun control nominee?

[narses]

LOL, yeah - that whole Congress thing is forgotten. Except it ain't. He will be tarred. He appointed Kerik. He suggested him to the President. And he sued gunmakers.Tuesday, June 20, 2000 MAYOR GIULIANI AND SPEAKER VALLONE ANNOUNCE CITY LAWSUIT AGAINST GUN INDUSTRY

[DocH]

you wanted the mayor to run up the stairs into one of the WTC towers to save people? or operate the cranes to lift rubble?

No.

I'm merely questioning why some (a liberal lurking, liberal-leaning, or starstruck MINORITY according to the FR poll taken before) on FR are promoting this RINO so vigorously, to the point of being obnoxious.

[My GOP]

See Post 50 and 113. And for everytime you keep posting the same thing over and over, I'm going to keep saying See Post 50 and 113.

[narses]

Bingo.

[JSDude1]

More rudy promotion: in a word, he's too liberal for me:NO (not in the primary)

[phs3]

ping

[RebelBanker]

Thank you for that thoughtful and informative post! I get very tired of the spamming that passes for debate on most of these threads.

By the way, the joke at the time Eisenhower was running was that the committee really meant to nominate Milton, not Dwight ;-)

[My GOP]

Rudy is a conservative on fiscal, domestic, and foreign policy that supports strict constructionist and the Republican that has the best change of winning the general election in 2008. That's why so many realistic and pragmatic conservatives on FR are supporting Rudy. If you are tired of the Rudy threads, you don't have to click on them.

[narses]

Yeah. You support a liberal Rino. You excuse his liberalism. Wow. How gay he is. How cute his lawsuit against the gun owners. How wonderful that he supports partial birth abortion. How neat his refusal to obey the law on illegal immigrants. But then, nothing matters except winning, so for you a RINO is cool.

I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights, Giuliani said. He was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions. “No, I have not supported that, and I don’t see my position on that changing,” he responded. Source: CNN.com, “Inside Politics” Dec 2, 1999 http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Rudy_Giuliani_Abortion.htm

ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES (November 14, 2006)

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: I'm pro- choice. I'm pro-gay rights.

KING: Giuliani supports a woman's right to an abortion, and back in 1999, he opposed a federal ban on late-term abortions.

GIULIANI: No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing.

KING: Immigration could be another presidential landmine. Back in 1996, Mayor Giuliani went to federal court to challenge new federal laws requiring the city to inform the federal government about illegal immigrants.

JEFFREY: He took the side of illegal immigrants in New York City against the Republican Congress.

KING: Giuliani opposes same-sex marriage but as mayor, he supported civil unions and extending health and other benefits to gay couples. He also supported the assault weapons ban and other gun control measures opposed by the National Rifle Association.

GIULIANI: I'm in favor of gun control. I'm pro-choice.

Republican Big-Wigs Support Pro-Abortion Event in NY

Pro-abortion Governor George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also supports unrestricted abortion, are co-chairs of the 2000 Choice Award Presentation to be held on May 30 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. The event is sponsored by the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, a group that is campaigning for the removal of the pro-life plank from the Republican National Platform.


http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200503010743.asp

[My GOP]

At least you said not in the primary. Some on here won't even say that.

[JimFreedom]

THANKS! I did forget to PING everyone in the chart so that was bad freeper etiquette, you know heat of battle and all.

[oceanview]

the people who care about this, are already voting against Rudy. like you.

its like when freepers post again and again that the clinton scandals about vince foster and whitewater are going to sink Hillary. they aren't, anyone who cares about those issues, is already voting against her. with the exception of the freepers who plan on voting for Hillary if McCain or Rudy in the R nominee.

[PhiKapMom]

People here like to take shots at him to advance their own agenda but the narrow agendas in this primary will not prevail.

I agree with that 100%!

[My GOP]

See Post 50 and 113.

[DocH]

Let's hope not.

But I still say it would be just as likely, maybe MORE likely, that a demonstrated gun and 2nd Amendment rights HATER like rudy would sign this, and any other gun control legislation that hit his desk in the oval office.

I'm not taking that chance with my vote, so hopefully, the Republican party powers-that-be will NOT force a gun-grabbing RINO on us.

[tertiary01]

Running NYC is the equivalent of being a Governor in at least a dozen states.

Maybe we should then draft Mike Bloomberg for VP.

[My GOP]

And what do you think Hillary will do?