Giuliani's Fight of His Life

IN POST 9/11 America, seeing Rudy Giuliani in the flesh can feel like meeting a living saint. That day in early September 2001 is sacrosanct in the national psyche and Giuliani is the holy symbol of American resilience; American defiance; American courage.

As Giuliani walks on to a stage in front of a business crowd in Miami Beach it is impossible not to think back to the fall of the World Trade Center. Not that Giuliani lets his audience forget. He is in Miami to lecture on the principles of leadership. But, inevitably, the events of 9/11 creep regularly into his talk. He tells anecdote after anecdote, reminding the audience that while they watched the horror unfold on TV, he was actually there. "I just started making decisions," he says of the moment he heard the planes had struck.

The steps he took that day have passed into American folklore. He was the clear head who kept his nerve in a moment that defined the era in which we live. Giuliani walked right into the heart of a stricken nation and became America's mayor. Now the march that he began in the ashes of 9/11 might lead him to the White House.

Giuliani has embarked on a remarkable campaign to test the waters for a possible presidential bid. He is touring the country, raising money and hiring staff. When faced with possible Democratic opponents, especially Hillary Clinton, he trounces them. The numbers speak a simple fact: Rudy Giuliani could become the most powerful man in the world.

But at the same time Giuliani faces challenges unique among the presidential candidates. In an age of religious conservatism, will the Republicans really choose a man who is pro-choice on abortion and pro-gay rights? Will the evangelical Christians who supported George Bush support Giuliani?

Giuliani's private life three-times divorced and plagued by scandal makes Bill Clinton's chequered past look almost virginal. Giuliani is a man whose father was an enforcer for organised crime. A man who separated from his first wife when he discovered she was his second cousin. And there's more: scandals, rages and grudges galore.

And yet, though officially he is only "exploring" the idea, most political insiders are betting Giuliani is going for it. The political winds of a world defined by 9/11 are blowing at his back. The signs are good.

Confidence in Guiliani is gaining momentum in the Republican political classes as he crisscrosses the country building up a formidable organisation. Since he left office as Mayor of New York at the end of 2001 he has visited 46 states and campaigned for 170 Republican candidates. He has held his first fundraiser, a swanky US$2,100-a-head Manhattan cocktail party that netted upwards of US$500,000. He has also aggressively courted key officials close to the White House.

Giuliani's nascent campaign is now seen as such a threat to the main players such as early Republican front-runner John McCain or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney that he has already been the victim of dirty tricks. In January a dossier turned up in the pages of the New York Daily News detailing Giuliani's campaign strategy. It laid out fundraising targets, schedules and budgets and speculated openly that Giuliani's personal life and views on social issues could force him to drop out. But the leak backfired. What the documents showed was the sheer scale of Giuliani's vision. It outlined plans to spend more than US$21 million before the end of 2007 and to raise US$100 million for the Republican nomination campaign. It detailed how to attract big-name fundraisers from the cash-rich political heartlands of Washington, California and New York.

The plans spelt out not just how risky Giuliani's campaign could be, but also how ambitious. "The whole race is wide open this time. It is a crowd. You can do well there if you are Rudy Giuliani," says Lee Miringoff, director of the prestigious Marist Institute for Public Opinion.

As Giuliani begins to put those plans into action, one name pops up again and again: Ronald Reagan. Giuliani heaps praise upon America's sunny 80s president. He aims for the same political turf: balancing a tough line on national security with a cheerful outlook on America's prospects.

At a time when American TV screens fill each night with images of carnage from Iraq, Giuliani stands out with his message of optimism. "Reagan understood the power of optimistic leadership," he says in Delaware. "We have to be the party of optimism ... the party that looks to the future."

It's a strangely positive message from a man whose career was forged in disaster and mass murder. It is impossible to underestimate the power of Giuliani's actions in the days immediately after 9/11.

He took snap decisions and organised New York's emergency response. He toured hospitals, took to the airwaves and in the first 16 hours alone paid four visits to Ground Zero's still burning ruins. He even identified the body of a close friend, sparing the dead man's pregnant wife the trauma.

Such personal touches propelled Giuliani into the nation's psyche. But what people really remember is how Giuliani was there, while Bush was not. The President's frozen face in a Florida school room and subsequent escape to Nebraska aboard Air Force One contrasted strongly with Giuliani's hands-on heroics. Giuliani became the man Americans trust. He was lauded internationally. Jacques Chirac called him "Rudy the rock".

He not Bush was Time's 2001 Man of the Year. America was desperate for a hero and Giuliani provided it.

He has been riding that wave ever since. When he left office he embarked on a business career built around his fame. He toured the world giving speeches about his experience. Hiring him can cost US$100,000 a time. "The 9/11 aura has been something that he has exploited ruthlessly," says Robert Polner, editor of the book America's Mayor: The Hidden History of Rudy Giuliani's New York.

It surrounds him still. When his speech in Miami Beach is over and Giuliani asks for questions, it is not advice on business this audience craves. Or leadership. Or even more 9/11 anecdotes. They want to know what Giuliani would do about Iraq. He takes a measured, optimistic approach.

Democrats and Republicans, he says, should get behind the aim of victory, no matter the previous mistakes. "There is no point in rooting for defeat. More important than what it means for George Bush is what it means for America if we lose in Iraq. Democrats and Republicans have much to disagree about, but we don't disagree about terrorism," he says.

It sounds like a stump speech again. And, in a divided country, it also sounds like a potentially powerful call to the middle ground.

Giuliani/Clinton/Dem vs. GOP Platform Comparison
Issue	Giuliani	Clinton	Dem Platform	GOP Platform
Abortion on Demand	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Partial Birth Abortion	SupportsOpposed NY ban	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Roe v. Wade	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Taxpayer Funded Abortions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Embryonic Stem Cell Research	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Federal Marriage Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Defined at state level	Supports
Gay Domestic Partnership/ Civil Unions	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Openly Gay Military	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Defense of Marriage Act	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Special Path to Citizenship for Illegal Aliens	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Tough Penalties for Employers of Illegal Aliens	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes	Supports
Sanctuary Cities/ Ignoring Immigration Law	Supports	Supports	Supports	Opposes
Protecting 2nd Amendment	Opposes	Opposes	Opposes Supports bans	Supports
Confiscating Guns	Supports Confiscated as mayor. Even bragged.	Supports	Supports Supports bans	Opposes
'Assault' Weapons Ban	Supports	Supports	Supports
Frivolous Lawsuits Against Gun Makers	Supports Filed One Himself	Supports		Opposes
Gun Registration/Licenses	Supports	Supports		Opposes
War in Afghanistan	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports	Supports
War in Iraq	Supports	Supports Voted for it	Supports Weak support	Supports
Patriot Act	Supports	Supports Voted for it 2001 & 2006	Opposes	Supports

1) The rebirth of New York City, the most visible urban achievement in the 20th century is the work of the person now dubbed America’s mayor. For the millions of Americans who live in New York and the millions more who work or whose livelihood has been affected by its revival the contrast between the pre and post Giuliani years could not be more striking.

His defense of Israel and intolerance for Arab and U.N. sponsored anti-Semitism is legendary.

He figuratively walked into the lion's den of a crime ridden, high tax, and decaying city and carried out a conservative agenda of tax cuts, crime reduction and, in the case of the Brooklyn Museum, defense of religion in the public square. On this count Giuliani seems to be the winner in the public character category for his extraordinary vision and leadership.

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2) Newt Gingrich:

“He is much stronger than anyone could have predicted six months ago,” said former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia. “New York is four times safer than it used to be. It’s one of the greatest achievements of government capability in the 20th century. And Rudy just has to go out and say, ‘This is who I am. If you think the world’s dangerous, and you need a tough guy … that’s me.’”

Conservatives comment on Rudy Giuliani:

“It is the greatness of the United States that daunting challenges inevitably summon to the fore leaders with the steel to rise to the occasion and the grasp to raise us up with them. Leaders whose confidence and command cut through the noise and the naysayers. Leaders who stir us not only to the urgency of action but to the achievability of victory through America’s exceptional gifts. Rudy Giuliani is such a leader. In our perilous times, his is the unique combination of vision, guts, and perseverance that we need in the Oval Office. That’s why I hope we have the good sense to make him the next president of the United States.” -- Andrew McCarthy (“Giuliani for President: Leadership Inspires Early Endorsement;” NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE)

“Further, [the] argument that Rudy couldn’t survive without the support of the GOP base is very true. As such, it’s a good thing that Rudy has been able to attain the support of that very base. Rudy generally garners between 85% and 90% of Republicans in a hypothetical matchup against a standard blue-state Democrat like Hillary Clinton. These numbers are just ever-so-slightly shy of Bush’s 90-plus percent GOP support against Kerry in 2004. And while it’s true that Rudy’s support among independents and Democrats will fluctuate, it’s probably also true that Rudy will at least win independents in the general election, which the president couldn’t do two years ago. Given those considerations, it’s hard to see how Rudy can be viewed as anything other than supremely electable. -- race42008.com

"Christian conservatives make up the core of the school-choice movement in the state. If they come to the conclusion that Mr. Giuliani is on their side and has the leadership qualities to achieve lasting and meaningful change, he may prove a surprisingly strong contender." -- Brendan Miniter ("Culture Warrior: Don't write-off Giuliani's appeal to social conservatives;" OPINION JOURNAL, Feb. 13, 2007)

"On every major issue, [Giuliani] is a solidly conservative and extraordinarily adept executive..." -- Michael Reagan ("The GOP Should Dump It's Litmus Test," FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE, Feb. 16, 2007)

“I've known (Rudy Giuliani) for 26 years and we've talked about this many times," Olson said. "He feels very strongly that people like Justice Scalia, Chief Justice Roberts, Sam Alito, Clarence Thomas, are the type of people that he would put on the court…I'm quite convinced that this is a genuine viewpoint that he has." – Ted Olson, Solicitor General of the United States "Giuliani is perfectly suited to lead today’s sunbelt center-right GOP due to his belief in low taxes, fiscal responsibility, market-based government reform, traditional marriage, conservative judges, securing the borders, and, last but certainly not least, the destruction of the terrorist threat against America. Only Rudy can package all of this conservatism in a manner that appeals to large numbers of swing voters while still maintaining solid levels of support among the Republican base." -- "The Conservative Case for Rudy Giuliani in 2008"

"I've voted against Rudy Giuliani, and I've voted for him. Voting for him is better; it's what I hope conservatives, Republicans and Americans will do in 2008." -- Richard Brookheiser ("Why Rudy's Right: What Makes Giuliani the Best Choice for America in '08," NEW YORK POST, Dec. 10, 2006)

"...When you talk about issues related to fiscal conservatism, which are important to Rudy, I don't know anybody in the public arena who has cut taxes 23 times as Rudy did when he was mayor of New York; who has shrunk the size of government, which he did when he was mayor of New York; reduced the welfare rolls by over 50 percent, which he did when he was mayor of New York. And that's not going into reducing crime by 65% and many other things that he did while mayor in a situation that, before he became mayor, was widely regarded as the second toughest job in American politics, and was widely regarded as an ungovernable situation." -- Bill Simon, GOP candidate for California governor in 2002.

“By the time Giuliani challenged Dinkins for a second time, in 1993 (his first try had failed), the former prosecutor had fashioned a philosophy of local government based on two core conservative principles vastly at odds with New York’s political culture: that government should be accountable for delivering basic services well, and that ordinary citizens should be personally responsible for their actions and their destiny and not expect government to take care of them." -- Steven Malanga ("Yes, Rudy Giuliani is a Conservative," CITY JOURNAL)

“[Giuliani] is positively Reaganite on taxes, spending, public order, quality of life, welfare reform, school choice, racial preferences, privatization, shrinking bureaucracy, Americanization of immigrants, fatherhood, moving foster kids into adoptive families, pulverizing Islamo-fascism, and maintaining peace through strength.” – DeRoy Murdock, (“Mean Mr. Giuliani’ Would Bring Toughness to Washington,” HUMAN EVENTS)

"Rudy Giuliani is the conservative in the race." -- Former Cong. Jim Nussle, pro-life fiscal conservative and one of the architects of the 1994 Republican Revolution

“SayNoToRudy.Org’s online retreat also impresses. As the Ohio-based website’s self-described, social-conservative organizers stated November 5: ‘We sought to do everything legally possible to prevent [Giuliani] from becoming the Republican presidential nominee. Unexpectedly, as we began to see more and more of who Mr. Giuliani really is, we found that Mr. Giuliani is truly a committed Republican and an accomplished conservative on many issues. Therefore, the creators of this organization, with much humility and apology, beyond all probability, hereby announce that we are willing to endorse Mr. Giuliani for the Presidency in 2008.’” -- Right Rudy, race42008.com

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