Giuliani Moves from Long Shot to Top Tier Candidate

Whittier Daily News ^ | 2/20/07 | Dan Weintraub

[meg88]

ONLY a few months ago, conventional wisdom throughout much of the political world was that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani might make a competitive Republican candidate for president in a general election, but he could never win his party's nomination because conservative primary voters would reject him.

Now, suddenly, that wisdom seems to have shifted, and as Giuliani trouped through California last week, he was wowing conservatives with his charisma, his gift for sounding spontaneous on the stump and his call for bold national leadership.

"Rudy" - as he is known everywhere - has already been accepted as one of three top-tier Republican candidates, along with Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. With California and several other large industrial states set to move their primaries up to early February, Giuliani might be more formidable than ever.

"All three candidates have challenges when it comes to proving themselves to conservatives," said Jon Fleischman, a party activist whose Flashreport.org Web site is considered by insiders to be the voice of conservative Republicans in the state. "Giuliani has just as good a shot as the other two of trying to articulate to conservatives why, as they compromise to pick a candidate, it should be him."

Romney, though seemingly a favorite of social conservatives, has a shifting record on some hot-button issues, including abortion. McCain frustrated grass-roots types with his sponsorship of a federal campaign finance measure that has meant restrictions on campaign activity - and free speech - that hardly qualify as limited government. Giuliani, meanwhile, has his familiar record in favor of abortion rights, gay rights and some restrictions on gun ownership, not to mention an interesting personal past that includes a very public divorce.

Dan Schnur, a Republican communications expert who worked for McCain in 2000, says the field so far reminds him of the old joke about two guys who are out camping in the woods and see a bear approaching. As one of them puts on his shoes, the other one says, "You're crazy, you can't outrun a bear." To which the first one replies: "I know, but I can outrun you."

"These three candidates don't have to convince conservatives to trust them completely," Schnur said. "One of them just has to convince conservatives to trust him more than the other guys."

On that score, Giuliani has had a mixed performance in California. At the state Republican convention in Sacramento, he failed to show for a scheduled visit with the California Republican Assembly, a conservative grass-roots group, ticking off some activists who probably would not have supported him anyway, at least in the primary. But convention delegates responded warmly to his speech, which included a strong defense of President Bush's conduct of the war on Islamic terrorism. And his presence created a buzz in the hall that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has something of a love-hate relationship with party regulars, could not match.

Bill Simon, the Los Angeles financier who was the Republican candidate for governor in 2002 and is a former colleague of Giuliani in the U.S. attorney's office in New York, is supporting him. So are Curt Pringle, the mayor of Anaheim, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. The not-so-conservative former mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, is also on board.

Giuliani clearly benefits from the aura surrounding his performance in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, when he was seen as a strong leader in a crisis.

"I think he has broad appeal in California," said Kevin Spillane, a Republican political consultant who has been talking to the campaign about joining the effort. "Even people who disagree with him on social issues respect him and see him as a strong leader and believe he is an effective and competent and very substantive political figure. I think that's what people are looking for."

It still seems difficult to believe that Republicans, even in California, will nominate a candidate for president who supports abortion rights and is comfortable around homosexuals. But these are strange political times. Maybe, like the gallows, the fear of another President Clinton will concentrate the collective Republican mind.

Daniel Weintraub is a columnist with The Sacramento Bee.

[PhiKapMom]

I am pro-life

[Spiff]

Rudy Giuliani Supports Partial Birth Abortion...Do You?

[GEORGE] WILL: Is your support of partial birth abortion firm?
Mayor GIULIANI: All of my positions are firm. I have strong viewpoints. I express them. And I--I do not think that it makes sense to be changing your position....
ABC News February 6, 2000

---

TUCHMAN: Giuliani was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions, something Bush strongly supports.
GIULIANI: No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing.
- CNN December 2, 1999

---

BLITZER: If you were in the Senate and [President Clinton] vetoed, once again, the [ban on the] so-called partial-birth abortion procedure, you would vote against sustaining that against the -- in favor of the veto in other words, you would support the president on that.
GIULIANI: Yes. I said then that I support him, so I have no reason to change my mind about it.
BLITZER: All right. So the bottom line is that on a lot of these very sensitive issues whether on guns, abortion, patients' bill of rights, taxes, you are more in line with the president and by association, with Mrs. Clinton, than you are against them.
- CNN February 6, 2000

---

MR. RUSSERT: A banning of late-term abortions, so-called partial-birth abortions--you're against that?

MAYOR GIULIANI: I'm against it in New York, because in New York...

MR. RUSSERT: Well, if you were a senator, would you vote with the president or against the president? [Note: President Clinton was in office in 2000]

MAYOR GIULIANI: I would vote to preserve the option for women. I think that choice is a very difficult one. It's a very, very--it's one in which people of conscious have very, very different opinions. I think the better thing for America to do is to leave that choice to the woman, because it affects her probably more than anyone else....

MR. RUSSERT: So you won't change your view on late-term abortion in order to get the Conservative Party endorsement?

MAYOR GIULIANI: It isn't just that. We shouldn't limit this to one issue. I'm generally not going to change my views
- NBC Meet the Press, February 6, 2000

---

***Note: the version of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban that Giuliani opposed in 2000, that he said he supported Bill Clinton in vetoing the Republican-controlled Congress's legislation, contained the exception for the life of the mother that Rudy is now trying to pretend is a prerequisite for his support.

[WhistlingPastTheGraveyard]

I know I have it right. And the people with pre-conceived notions of either candidate before the debates will walk away with those notions intact after the debates. The more polarized we become as a society, the less these debates matter.

But since people pay millions of dollars to hear him speak, you're in the minority.

By that logic, Al Gore is also an excellent public speaker.

[presidio9]

I don't think people are paying to hear Al Gore speak, so much as to worship the junk science behind his quasi-religion.

[PhiKapMom]

It is not going to split wide open. What we will lose are the people that are not willing to support candidates that can get elected because they don't meet 100% of their ideals. You think Rudy being freeped will make him any difference considering how many protestors in NY he saw all the time. Give me a break. This site is a shell of its former self from the days of the Florida fiasco as a lot of you have managed to drive off some really good people as you moved farther to the right. You obviously don't understand most Republicans -- we want to keep the WH in 2008 because to do otherwise would be harming our military.

Join Rudy 2008

[presidio9]

Ronald Reagan once signed a California abortion bill into law. Rudy Giuliani is on the record saying the PBA ban was "a good thing."

[stockstrader]

Rudy getting 'Freeped' would speak VOLUMES about how the traditional base feels about him. And you think that would NOT be a split in the Republican Party? Dream on.

You do make a very good point, though,,,

A LIBERAL like Rudy could CARE LESS ABOUT WHAT CONSERVATIVES THINK ABOUT HIM!!!....LOL

Thanks for making our point!

[ichabod1]

I'd sure like to see the Justice Department be forced to take the same posture as the NYPD did when Rudy was mayor.

[PhiKapMom]

I don't usually bring one of my posts forward, but this time I think it pertains to some of what I am seeing in this thread like the other. Forgot to format the other one so I had the Mod pull to make it easier to read. I made this reply to Jake the Goose:

"In the mean time - we can all keep our own houses in order and ensure our children are raised with the values we embrace - while our leaders do their job." (Jake the Goose)

I agree 100%! I don't send my Congressman and two Senators to DC to deal with social issues -- they belong in my home, my church, my community and on rare occasions in my state.

Believe we will see some type of a split when we lose the social conservatives that jumped on the Republican bandwagon expecting Republicans to cater to their every need of legislating morality to suit their demands. That has not happened and now they are in a snit for the most part. We lost big in 2006 so we have to reach out to people that are concerned where this Nation is headed on the WOT and other important national issues.

No candidate that can win is going to be able to appease some of these voters. We have to build new coalitions and bring back in some of the voters the unappeaseables have driven away with their my way or no way approach that does not work.

Been a Conservative my whole adult life but I have learned over the past month that my Conservatism mirrors the Contract with America not what some of these people on here claim Conservtives have to be.

Read the thread on the platform and had my laugh. The days of the platform planks coming down to fist fights are over. My Uncle used to sit on the platform committee in the good old days when they would actually come to blows about the platform. It has been tea and crumpets for years and after all the Conventions at all levels, the platform is put back in the file cabinet until the next Convention. Each group gets their piece of the pie now and can go away claiming victory.

Back in the smoked filled backroom days, the candidates were searching for delegates up until the final talley was announced. Many of our candidates including Ronald Reagan in 1980 went to the Convention not sure of the final tally. Those days are gone and so are most of the caucus systems in states to be replaced by statewide primaries.

It is a new era in politics and political campaigns. Most voters live by the soundbite and why someone like Rudy is surging ahead. Takes million(s) to run a nationwide campaign, a huge staff of the best in the business consultants, and a demeanor that attracts voters. Vast majority of Americans don't care about social issues like they do on here. They care about being safe when they go shopping, go to sporting events, and other entertainment venues along with having the money to afford to do things. If that wasn't the case, you would have millions of people marching in the pro-life march in D.C. or on the flip side in the anti-war marches by the left. You don't have these huge numbers compared to the population of this Nation.

My children have been taught what is right and wrong from an early age and are conservative -- note that I said conservative not a labeled conservative.

Join Rudy 2008

[PhiKapMom]

That would be awesome and fun to watch!

[Dstorm]

Thank You,

As a Prolifer, you would hopefully understand my point of view that the slide into the abyss for this country started with the Roe vs Wade decision.
I can understand the reasons many people support abortion, it is a perceived good choice out of a bad situation. But I will never understand those who support Partial Birth Abortion.
If Rudy supported this? how can he justify it? I am very troubled that I will be unable to support anyone.

[Dstorm]

Thank you,

Pls read my post at #52

[Peach]

Gee, do you think if we went on a Duncan Hunter thread and put good things about Rudy in the keywords the mods would be all over us? I thought so.

But I note the immaturity level fo those freepers who are having their little fun.

Well, we'll be the ones laughing when Rudy gets the nomination. LOL

[PhiKapMom]

He could care what the fringe conservatives think about him. That fixed it! Rudy cares about what Conservatives think -- those of us that were supportive of the Contract with America type Conservatives. Any candidate that cares about what the fringe thinks, is not going anywhere. Demonstrating against a fellow Republican -- why would anyone care what you think if you demonstrate with some of the crap I have seen posted on here by the anti-Rudy folks. Some of you keyboard warriors don't have a clue about the real world of Republican politics that some of us have been active in for years. When a candidate gets out front and looks to be the winner some of your friends that have been trashing Rudy will jump on the bandwagon. Happens everytime. Better to have a seat at the table then to be left out in the cold. Longtime Republicans who are social conservatives will not jump off the Republican bandwagon as they understand politics and a lot of them are also just conservtives. Those of you on here that speak so sharply against Rudy probably will jump or were not 'true' Republicans to begin with as I have noticed a lot of Keyes supporters in the anti-group that trashed Pres Bush until the FL fiasco. We all know the vitrol that Keyes threw at then Gov Bush. Oklahomans have a long memory. Seems to me a lot of the hatred towards Rudy is coming out of the Keyes/3rd party camps but then since Keyes is considering a jump to the CP why should any of us be surprised. I would never demonstrate against any Republican and some I don't like at all. Not my nature.

[ichabod1]

That's what I like best about Rudy -- I think he could be the best administrator we've ever had. I don't know about his political skills, positions on Right To Life issues, understanding of foreign policy, or how he squares his love for illegals with being a law and order guy. But I'm definitely willing to give him a long look.

[PhiKapMom]

I see your dilemma and understand.

Rudy's comments the other night in a Larry King interview said he was against any PBA law that did not include the life/health of the mother which is consistent with what I just found on Find Law where the life/health of the mother is the exemption to the law:

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS.

The Congress finds and declares the following:

(a) IN GENERAL. -- Title 18 United States Code, is amended by inserting after chapter 73 the following:

CHAPTER 74 -- PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORTIONS

"Sec.
"1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited

§1531. Partial-birth abortions prohibited

(a) Any physician who, in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce, knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby kills a human fetus shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both. This subsection does not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of a mother whose life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself. This subsection takes effect 1 day after the date of enactment of this chapter.

IMO, Rudy like a lot of other Americans changed on 9-11 and comments and beliefs they held prior are not the same today. I think it is wrong to take his comments from 1999 and bring them forth to today like he made them yesterday. Some of us change over the years -- Pres Bush #41 was pro-choice when he joined the ticket with Pres Reagan but then his son adopted and he became pro-life. I thought those of us who are pro-life were about changing the hearts and minds of not only candidates but people we meet every day.

We don't change hearts and minds by what I am seeing on this site recently. Putting up pictures that used to be banned and comments taken from sometime ago to tar and feather a candidate does not win any hearts and minds. In fact, it is driving people away as people are labeled trolls for daring to disagree.

People change -- I have changed and will continue to change as I learn more each day. Views I held when I was 18 are not the same as they are today except I was a Conservative then and am a Conservative now. I have learned over the years that you don't always get everything you want in candidates, but you look at them as a whole not at one particular issue. I vote for people I think are best for the Country as a whole because when they take office they have the enormous responsibility of guiding a whole nation just not one group.

I want constructionist judges appointed because as a State's Rights person I want social issues returned to the States.

My more than two cents!

http://www.joinrudy2000.com

[George W. Bush]

This site is a shell of its former self from the days of the Florida fiasco as a lot of you have managed to drive off some really good people as you moved farther to the right.

I'd say that a small coterie of unprincipled Republicans with some GOP liberals have succeeded in driving off the old conservative FReepers.

The pre-Bush FreeRepublic would never have considered any liberal as the GOP candiidate. Ten times more so for any gungrabber.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Looks like our true blue conservative did pretty well in our prior poll. Let's now see what happens if we nominate a social liberal who's okay with abortion, gay unions and gay rights is a gun grabber and is weak on illegal immigration.

Oh, yes, and I just love the calm, reasoned, UNBIASED way that poll was presented! LOL! I wonder what the results would be if only *names* had been used in that poll -- instead of name-calling.