Posted on 03/25/2007 5:12:52 AM PDT by veronica
WASHINGTON (AP) - Plenty of people and politicians have skeletons in their closets. In the case of presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, that closet is a walk-in.
The former Republican mayor of New York City won widespread praise for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks, and it is largely that collective memory that accounts for his current popularity in polls and makes him the early front-runner for his party's nomination.
Yet as most New Yorkers could tell you, there are plenty of episodes in Giuliani's past that could come back to haunt him - scenes that played like a booming, angry opera.
"Rudy is a tough guy. Nobody has ever said he was Mr. Congeniality. It's not always pretty to look at, but he got the job done," said Representative Peter King, Republican of New York, who backed Senator McCain of Arizona in 2000 but now supports Mr. Giuliani.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
Gun control.
Abortion.
'Gay rights'.
Rudys past on those three issues will sink him.
Justifiably so.
L
His past will hurt him - but not as badly as his liberal stances on many issues.
Exactly! Rudy and Judy's SIX marriages are just a small side issue!
I guess people are focused on issues larger than that now.
I guess people are focused on issues larger than that now.
No, I don't think it will matter to the hoi polloi. Rudy has struck a chord with the American people, and this is hard for many on this site to understand. The only single issue that matters to the American people is the courage and pluck that Rudy demonstrated on that dark day in September of 2001, everything else, rightly or wrongly, is just background noise.
Brace yourself. Sometimes speaking the truth sparks a little vitriol.
50% of the voters don't vote. Of those that do, 50% of them haven't got the foggiest idea of where the person they are voting for stands on issues that matter.
His liberals fews will be what hurts him.
actually, it already did
(YES IT WILL)
Rudy's past will have been thoroughly disected, discussed and dismissed by the time the election rolls around.
How will Rudy be harder on the terrorists than Duncan Hunter? I'm not being snippy, I just want to know how you compare the two. To Rudy's credit, I will give him that he did a fine job with the clean up of the aftermath of 9/11. He did clean up NYC crime, although I would say that foriegn goverments, and worldwide terrorist organizations are alot different than street thugs.
As you can see, I am behind Duncan Hunter. First, I believe he knows the military from the soldiers point of view, being Ranger/Airborne and saw combat. He has served and has had held the leadership position in the Armed Forces committee. He knows the pentagon and the intelligence community. His record proves he has been behind them. In every interview/debate where I have seen him, he is very strong with his pro military view, he is adamant about winning the war and actually has a plan. He has a definate stance on illegal immigration, he does not want a virtual fence, he wants a real fence. He believes all people should come through the "front door", which imo is vital if we are going to fight terrorism. Some call him isolationist because he wants to keep manufacturing jobs here. I don't believe it is wise to have foriegn nations outfitting our military, to give them the tools they need to fight. He also sees other threats that are out there such as China, who has always been stealthy working against us. Muslims aren't the only threat to our nation, just the most blatant. He has always been pro-life. He has always been a staunch supporter of the 2nd amendment, with no strings attached. He understands the right to bear arms has to do with self-defense not hunting. When it comes to all the conservative, not republican values, Duncan Hunter gets an A. That is why the people who support him can feel good about it. It's not a single issue, it's many issues that they feel strongly about. Do you honestly believe that the Duncan Hunter supporters don't care about the WOT? They most certainly do? Duncan Hunter has seen war first hand, he has also been the parent, on the homefront who, I'm sure felt the pride and the fear of having a child fighting the terrorists. You cannot deny that kind of experience that he is bringing to the table.
A comparable article about Bubba would have many more faces and be a lot more scandalous. Yet his favorability rating is very high, and no one can say it's because the public doesnt know about his skeletons.
Some politicians have teflon and some dont. I dont know if Rudy does or doesnt. Those here who claim to know are kidding themselves.
It's already been done to death a million times over for us NYers, for years. The left has been trying to destroy him here since Day One.
And he just keeps getting more popular.
In the latest Rasmussen poll, Rudy, when paired against the hildabeast, was up 49% (that's a whole lot of hoi polloi) to 41%.
The American people don't vote in the Republican primary? That'll be news to a whole lot of us.
Zealous Republicans in the GOP primary gave us the likes George HW Bush, and Bob Dole as GOP standard-bearers in the elections of 1988 and 1996. I was one of the "zealous" supporters for Jack Kemp during both contests, and I saw where that got me.
He could win the Democratic primary, you say, and this is the one you got right. I think America's mayor would have a good chance winning among Republicans and Democrats in their respective parties, and if the Independents caucused, he'd have a shot at them as well.
The facts up to this point are that America looks at America's Mayor as someone who can lead America during these troubled times. I may be wrong, but I think many Americans are captivated by Rudy's perceived courage, strength, and determination, in leading a devastated city back from the depths of destruction. If that is the case, and we are talking about a 911 subconcious imprint on the national psyche, it may be difficult, and dam# near impossible to alter that opinion over the next year.
Good point. Clinton was teflon. Gore was velcro. Who knows why? Certainly not me.
But, you see, all that means nothing because he supposedly can't beat (cue the creepy music here!) ... Hillary!
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