Thinking Hard About Voting For Rudy Guiliani

The Bulletin ^ | Feb. 22, 2007 | Maggie Gallagher

[FairOpinion]

I've never voted for Rudy Giuliani in my life. But I'm thinking hard about it now.

In both cases, I surprise myself.

The rest of America may know Rudy as "America's Mayor" for his ceremonial performance post-9/11, but for New Yorkers who lived through the Dinkins years, Rudy Giuliani is more than a guy who stands tall when the skyscrapers fall. By the late '90s, people were beginning to say that New York City was ungovernable: Remember the court-driven interest group spending, the disorder, the bums taking over the parks and the playgrounds and the street corners, spiraling welfare costs, the crime, the small business disaster, the high taxes, rent control, the South Bronx? New York was a disaster area, a poster child for what liberalism hath wrought.

The glittering cosmopolitan New York City we now live in, the one seemingly every college student in America dreams about moving to, is largely Rudy's gift, forged in the face of intense, daily, nasty invective from those who at the time insisted that to demand order and civility in a large city was to be a fascist.

Even Rudy's 9/11 performance tends to be misdescribed. It was not that he "stood tall" or didn't emotionally collapse. George Bush came to New York City and made graceful speeches about how we will rebuild the hole in the ground that still remains. What stood out for us in that dark time was not that the mayor of New York insisted we would triumph over this adversity, but that he didn't try to spin us about how unimaginably bad this sort of adversity was. He didn't try to soft-pedal the uncertainty, the chaos, the suffering the city was going through, and that gave us the confidence to believe that reality, terrible as it was, could in fact be faced.

I never voted for Rudy when I lived in New York City for one simple reason: abortion. I don't look for purity in politicians, just for some small pro-life reason to vote for a guy: Medicaid funding, parental notification, partial birth abortion. Throw me the slightest lifeline, otherwise I assume he just doesn't want the vote of people like me. Rudy never did. So I never gave him my vote. And of course it doesn't help now to recall the way Rudy treated his second wife, nor do I particularly want to imagine the third Mrs. Giuliani as Laura Bush's successor.

So I could have sworn, even a few months ago, that I'd never vote for Rudy Giuliani, in spite of my deep respect for his considerable achievements as mayor. So why would I even think of changing my mind? Two things: national security, and Hillary Clinton's Supreme Court appointments.

When I ask myself, who of all the candidates in both parties do I most trust to keep me and my children safe? The answer is instantaneous, deeper than the level any particular policy debate can go: Rudy Giuliani. And when I look ahead on social issues like gay marriage, the greatest threat I see is that the Supreme Court with two or more appointments from Hillary Clinton, will decide that our Founding Fathers, in their wisdom, created a national constitutional right to whatever social liberals have decided is the latest civil rights battle. It's hard to see a state that George Bush won in which Rudy Giuliani will not beat Hillary Clinton. And he will put a whole slew of new blue states into play: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, to name just three. (The latest Quinnipiac poll shows Giuliani in a dead heat with Clinton in Connecticut.) Which puts people like me, who care very deeply about marriage and life issues, in the position of thinking hard about Rudy.

[My GOP]

That's right, someone that supports the war in Iraq, the WOT, is pro Israel, is for low taxes, for fiscal responsiblity, for pro growth polices, for law and order, for school choice, for social security privatization, is anti union, for strict constructionist, for limited government and reformed welfare is perfect for the Democratic Party /s

[Old_Mil]

You seriously misunderstand what Giuliani's candidacy is about.

Rudy Guiliani has marched in lockstep with liberals on affirmative action, gay rights, gay marriage, gun control, school prayer, tuition tax credits, liberal immigration policies, and he's reinforced it, time and time again. Just about everytime Rudy opens his mouth, offensive liberal words come pouring out. As Mayor, Rudy put liberals in high-paid city jobs, an indication what a Rudy WH would look like. Here then is Rudy in his own words:

--The New York State Liberal Party on its endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for Mayor: "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 Candidate 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 told the New York Times July 9, 1992

--Village Voice Interview with Guiliani: He was asked: "What kind of Republican Is [Giuliani]? A Reagan Republican?" Giuliani pauses before answering: "I'm a Republican." Village Voice January 24, 1989

--On Attending 1996 Republican Convention: Rudy 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." said Rudy. Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Page 459, by Wayne Barrett

--On Barry Goldwater: Giuliani described John Kennedy as "great and brilliant. Barry Goldwater as 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." Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.

--The Daily News quoted Giuliani as saying March 1996: "Whether you talk about President Clinon, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group." An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.

--Revealing at one point that he was "open" to the idea of endorsing Clinton, Rudy said: "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 Endorses Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo October 1994: "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 book by 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." quoting Ray Kerrison New York Post, July 7, 1989

--On Gay Domestic Partnership: "I have no objection to the concept of domestic partnership," said Rudy Giuliani on 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.

--Rudy Guiliani on abortion: "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: "He doesn't support tuition tax credits and vouchers." 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

[My GOP]

You guessed it spammy, see Post 173.

[FairOpinion]

Words like pragmatic or realist are not in their dictionary.

[My GOP]

"Words like pragmatic or realist are not in their dictionary."

But they are in my tagline :)

[Jorge]

So what! That shows me that the Democrats should try and draft Rudy as their candidate. He should feel right at home there. They have much in common.

You should work for the Dems. You have so much in common.

[narses]

Rudy Guiliani has marched in lockstep with liberals on affirmative action, gay rights, gay marriage, gun control, school prayer, tuition tax credits, liberal immigration policies, and he's reinforced it, time and time again. Just about everytime Rudy opens his mouth, offensive liberal words come pouring out. As Mayor, Rudy put liberals in high-paid city jobs, an indication what a Rudy WH would look like. Here then is Rudy in his own words:

--The New York State Liberal Party on its endorsement of Rudy Giuliani for Mayor: "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 Candidate 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 told the New York Times July 9, 1992

--Village Voice Interview with Guiliani: He was asked: "What kind of Republican Is [Giuliani]? A Reagan Republican?" Giuliani pauses before answering: "I'm a Republican." Village Voice January 24, 1989

--On Attending 1996 Republican Convention: Rudy 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." said Rudy. Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Page 459, by Wayne Barrett

--On Barry Goldwater: Giuliani described John Kennedy as "great and brilliant. Barry Goldwater as 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." Rudy! An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.

--The Daily News quoted Giuliani as saying March 1996: "Whether you talk about President Clinon, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group." An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett.

[My GOP]

See Post 173 :)

[KDD]

Rudy is a fiscal, domestic, and foreign policy conservative that supports strict constructionist.

Right...I'll believe that when I see this...

A common sight in Rudy world?

[Jorge]

Words like pragmatic or realist are not in their dictionary.

It amazes me how narrow and irrational some of these poster are.

The idea that we need to get these losers on board to win the White House in 2008 is scarey.

[spikeytx86]

I always that that was the logo of the Hunter campaign.

[budwiesest]

Don't you think we're in the 'desirability' phase, rather than the 'electibility' phase?

[spikeytx86]

thought*

[TakeChargeBob]

"The primaries haven't even taken place yet."

Your point is an excellent one. In going for a primary vote, I would agree that you should vote your conscience. This is the proper time to express your desires. The rationale that you need to vote a RINO in because of general electibility is generally a betrayal of principles. (This is not absolute and there are exceptions.) Having seen Spector's behavior, I realize that I was wrong in my rooting for him over Toomey because he was likely to keep the seat Republican.

For the 2008 presidential vote, it is likely to come down to Hillary vs Rudy. If Rudy is nominated, then the choice becomes amazingly clear. Any conservative that would hesitate with the choice between Guiliani and Clinton has their head up their butt. (This statement is applicable if any Republican candidate that has been mentioned so far is substituted instead of Guiliani.) I do not mean to denigrate anyone with views that are heartfelt and strongly disagree with Guiliani on particular issues. Even assuming the worst about Guiliani on any issue, is there any issue where Hillary would be better?

A stop Hillary vote might be such a special circumstance to consider electibility as to a strong factor in the primary vote. Nevertheless, on balance, I believe that the primary vote should better reflect one's views.

Let me qualify my opinion. I am strongly for Guiliani to win the Republican nomination and then of course the presidency.
As a New Yorker, I have seen how Rudy transformed New York City. Leadership, WOT, straight shooter, successful performance as mayor are major reasons why I strongly support Rudy.

If the race unfolds as I predicted in 2003 that Rudy and Hillary will be the Presidential candidates in 2008, then I will be challenging people that even have to stop and think about the choice, let alone sit out the race or vote 3rd party. Hillary epitomizes extreme corruption and extreme liberalism (don't get fooled by her pretense).

If you are troubled by Rudy, vote someone else in the Primary that you can feel good about your vote. But make no mistake about it, the Rats can't be allowed to take over the Presidency in 2008.

[goldstategop]

Rudy's a liberal and I don't know if I could vote for someone who wasn't pro-life... let alone all the other positions he has that puts him outside the Republican mainstream. That being said, I appreciate his candor. He's very clear about his views and isn't evasive or shifty like Hillary. Hillary's a proven liar. So character matters in our next President. Its never too early to start thinking about what we want in our 44th President.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[spikeytx86]

Excellent Post

[Mia T]

When I ask myself, who of all the candidates in both parties do I most trust to keep me and my children safe? The answer is instantaneous, deeper than the level any particular policy debate can go: Rudy Giuliani

Thinking Hard About Voting For Rudy Guiliani
The Bulletin ^ | Feb. 22, 2007 | Maggie Gallagher

the whole ball of wax. bump.

And because of this alone, Rudy will demolish clinton (if Geffen and Obama haven't already done so).

WHY THE GEFFEN IMBROGLIO SIGNALS CLINTON'S END
'HILLARY'S STRATEGY--NOBODY GETS TO CRITICIZE HER' -- CHRIS MATTHEWS
with a WARNING FOR DAVID GEFFEN

[upsdriver]

He is pro abortion, pro gay rights, anti 2nd ammendment.

I keep hearing about his skill on the war on terror. What exactly has he done? He over saw the clean up of the debris and he attended funerals. He was out of office not too long after 9/11.

But the real deal killer for me is his stance on abortion. Never have I or never will I vote for any one who will not defend the rights of unborn American citizens.

[My GOP]

I address this in Post 173.

[FairOpinion]

"The idea that we need to get these losers on board to win the White House in 2008 is scarey."


Actually we don't anymore. Their last "show of power" was in the 2006 election, when they helped the Dems take control of Congress.

Rudy is going to get enough of the middle that he won't need the fringe. He may even have coattails and help the Republicans regain control of Congress.