"Harpy"
Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade the graphic.
Posted on 04/05/2007 11:53:32 AM PDT by EternalVigilance
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rudy Giuliani's message to social conservatives: If you don't like my views, don't vote for me.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
You're not reading all the posts, are you?
Somebody right up the thread said they'd rather have Hillary -- they made money when Bill was in office.
We’ve got 10 months to go ‘til the first primaries, and we’re cannibalizing each other!
Will FR survive? Will there be anyone left to care? Tune in February 2008 to find out!
How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking.
Smoky Backroom? You’ve GOT to be kidding.
Well, at least Rudy is honest unlike Arnold and the other CINOs. He tells you up front who he is.
I do mind. Why do you need to know that?
he’s got support from some people on here because he is perceived as the “only” person that can defeat Hillary. And if he’s for federal funding of abortions, how am I to believe he will appoint judges like Scalia and Roberts to the Supreme Court?
I’m wondering if you’re very young, an only child or just sociopathic.
All three?
I don’t need remedial training like some of you do.
He demands taxpayer money for abortion, silly!
Well, if that’s what they think, that’s what THEY think; doesn’t mean they’re wrong; it just means that they think differently than you do.
I know most of these people; have known them for years; and the idea of calling them liberals is preposterous.
And how can you be sure of anything? They’re politicians, remember?
Giuliani was a prosecutor, and prosecutors rarely show concernabout people’s constitutional rights. They bring charges, and let the courts decide. I am firmly convinced that Rudy doesn’t really understand what the Constitution actually says.
Hey, at this point, it's not like shuffling the thread to the backroom is going to harm the discussion....
Discussion, LOL!, such as it is.....
I prefer self-respect, LOL.
"Harpy"
Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade the graphic.
Rudy's flip-flopped on that too. Once opposed it, now he supports it. Hmm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: But it's your choice. It's an individual right. You get to make that choice and I don't think society should be putting you in jail for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
. . .
BASH: Mayor Giuliani, thank you very much for sitting down.
GIULIANI: Thank you, Dana.
BASH: First, breaking news.
Iran, the -- President Ahmadinejad has said that he is releasing the 15 British sailors. He said that it was a gift to the -- to the British.
Can you assess Ahmadinejad? Do you think he's more of a threat that Kim Jung Il of North Korea? More of a threat than Saddam Hussein was five years ago?
GIULIANI: Well, first of all, we're glad that the Iranians released them. And thank god. And I'm sure that Tony Blair and the president feel relieved about that.
Is he more of a threat?
I mean it's very hard to comp -- he's a big threat and in some ways I think Iran is a bigger threat than Iraq. Maybe certainly now. I don't know about before. It's hard to -- hard to evaluate all that.
And he seems like a -- he seems like a very irrational person and he's sort of the worst nightmare of the civil war, which I possibly nuclear weapons in the hands of an irrational person.
BASH: Another piece of news out today. CNN and WMUR in New Hampshire have a new poll out that has you dead even with Senator John McCain, 29 to 29. Mitt Romney is at 17.
What does that say to you? Do you think, for example, the fact that Senator McCain won in New Hampshire in the year 2000, that if you beat him, or if anyone beats him, is he done after New Hampshire?
GIULIANI: John McCain is never done. I know John McCain. I admire John McCain and he's probably -- of all the people in the race, he's my closest friend. And I admire Mitt Romney very much.
John McCain is never going to be done. I don't know if I'm going to beat him or he's going to beat me in New Hampshire. But if I do beat him in New Hampshire, I expect to see him in South Carolina and I expect to see him in California and I expect to see him every place else.
This is a very, very strong man, a very determined man. We've been just about even in New Hampshire. A couple of times I've been ahead of him. A couple of times he's been ahead of me by 10 points or -- and we're going to probably go right down to the wire there.
BASH: You have been very, very outspoken about your opposition to what Democrats are doing in terms of a time line or deadline for withdrawal in Iraq. You say it's -- you even said today it's like crying uncle, it's giving the enemy...
GIULIANI: It is. BASH: ... the plan.
But having said that, though, you're somebody who has -- who's made a name on results and leadership.
Is there something to be said for the Democrats' argument that you have to make it clear to the Iraqi government that the United States isn't going to be there forever? Is there some way to communicate that to them, perhaps? Some people in Washington are floating the idea of a classified deadline. Would you go for that?
GIULIANI: Anything that's done off the radar screen, fine. That's the way you do diplomacy. That's the way you put on pressure.
I think this idea of, we want to put pressure on Iran, the Iranian government, and -- but, instead, what we're doing is putting our soldiers at risk, doesn't make sense. It's like we kind of haven't exercised common sense. We haven't exercised restraint, if what we want to do is get them to get more involved in their own security.
I would like to see them get more involved in rebuilding their country. I always believe in -- in constructive activities. If you ask me what am I worried about going wrong with this new strategy, it's not the clear part. I think that's going to work. It's not the hold part. I hope that works. We didn't do that before. But I think we -- we have a plan now to do that.
I'm more worried about the build part. Are we going to get Iranians actively involved, in large numbers, in rebuilding their schools, rebuilding their highways, rebuilding their factories? Are we going to get the 60 percent unemployment down to 30 percent?
I know this sounds like domestic problems, but we have taken on these domestic problems in what we have done here. And maybe we didn't focus on that enough. And I hope that we're doing that.
BASH: Again on the polls, you have surprised a lot of people on the fact that you are way ahead in many polls nationally. A lot of political observers say, how can Rudy Giuliani, who is so socially moderate, be doing so well among Republican voters?
So, I want to flesh you out a little bit on some of the issues.
GIULIANI: Yes. I don't think of myself as being way ahead. And there are polls that have been that way, polls that I have been behind, even. I think I'm competitive. That's the way I look at it.
BASH: OK.
GIULIANI: And we made the decision to enter Iowa and run in Iowa not because we know we can win it. Who the heck knows that? We think we're competitive.
BASH: OK.
GIULIANI: I think there are a lot of Republicans who are willing to look at the whole record, and to take a look at, you know, what can he do for us in terms of dealing with terrorism? What can he do for us in dealing with the economy? Is he going to be the fiscal conservative?
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Let me ask you about -- about that record.
GIULIANI: Sure.
BASH: For example, on abortion, you're a self-described pro- choice Republican. There's a woman out there who says: I like Rudy Giuliani, because I think he's going to keep me safe. He's going to lower my taxes. He's going to get our -- a budget balanced. But I want to know, is he going to have the same position that he did as president than he did as mayor, which is to protect and defend my right to choose?
What would President Giuliani say?
GIULIANI: The same position.
I'm in the same position now that I was 12 years ago, when I ran for mayor, or as mayor, which is personally opposed to abortion, don't like it, hate it, would advise that woman have an adoption, rather than an abortion. And I will help you find the money for it.
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: But it's your choice. It's an individual right. You get to make that choice. And I don't think society should be putting you in jail for it.
BASH: And one of the things that you have said is that you will appoint strict constructionist judges.
GIULIANI: For a different reason, not necessarily that reason.
I -- generally, that's my philosophy. It's the only way I can really see that we protect the separation of powers, personal liberties. And, by strict constructionist judges, I mean judges who will interpret the meaning of the Constitution, not create it.
BASH: And many people see -- many people see that as -- as code...
GIULIANI: No.
BASH: ... to conservatives, who say, that means that he is giving me a wink and a nod, saying, he wants to overturn Roe v. Wade.
(LAUGHTER)
BASH: Do you want to overturn Roe v. Wade?
GIULIANI: Dana, I don't wink and nod. I'm a very direct person. I tell people what I think. Sometimes, I get in trouble for it.
BASH: So, what's the direct answer?
GIULIANI: The direct answer is, a strict constructionist judge can come to either conclusion about Roe against Wade. They can look at it and say, wrongly decided 30 years ago, or whatever it is. We will overturn it.
They can...
BASH: What's your personal view on Roe v. Wade?
GIULIANI: They could look at it and say, it's been the law for this period of time. Therefore, we're going to respect the precedent.
Conservatives can come to that conclusion as well. I would leave it up to them. I would not have a litmus test on that. My -- my overall view would be judges who are going to struggle with the meaning of the Constitution. And that applies to criminal justice issues. It applies to terrorism issues. It applies to a whole -- whole host of issues, to the Second Amendment and the individual right to bear arms, that it's a whole group of issues.
BASH: One last question on abortion. You might have heard of YouTube.
(LAUGHTER)
BASH: There's something on -- you know, on YouTube from 1989. It's flying around the Internet. It's -- it's a clip of you.
(LAUGHTER)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: There must be public funding for abortions for poor women. We cannot deny any woman the right to make her own decision about abortion because she lacks resources.
(APPLAUSE)
GIULIANI: I have also stated that I disagree with President Bush's veto last week of public funding for abortions.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Is that also your -- going -- going to be your position as president?
GIULIANI: Probably. I mean, I have to reexamine all those issues and exactly what was at stake then. It is a long time ago. But, generally, that's my -- my view. Abortion is wrong. Abortion shouldn't happen.
Personally, you should counsel people to that extent. When I was mayor, adoptions went up. Abortions went down.
BASH: So, you...
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: But, ultimately, it's a -- it's a -- it's a constitutional right. And, therefore, if it's a constitutional right, ultimately, even you do it on a state-by-state basis, you have to make sure that people are protected.
BASH: So, you support taxpayer money or public funding for abortion in some cases?
GIULIANI: If -- if it would deprive someone of a constitutional right, yes. I mean, if that's the status of the law, then I would, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Rudy’s thrown you all into a tizzy, hasn’t he. I’m enjoying watching his defenders lose it.
Okay, the VAST OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Freepers who find Rudy Giuliani too liberal will not vote for him. How’s that? There may be a few who do, and there may be a few who vote 3rd party. I can tell you this, I am a conservative more than a Republican. I may vote 3rd party myself rather than vote for just another Democrat with a (R) after his name. Meanwhile, until the nomination is won, I will do my best to stop a Giuliani candidacy, a fraud being perpetrated on conservative Republicans.
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