It wasn't just abortion Thursday night. Giuliani parted ways with his party's social conservatives by saying the Terri Schiavo case shouldn't have been brought before Congress; declaring he had supported public funding of abortion in New York; and even leaving the door open to federal funding on embryonic stem cell research.
Some Republicans also said Giuliani has little choice but to stick with his abortion position now -- though he did back away from his prior support for the right to late-term abortion.
"Any other changes will be seen as pandering and waffling. He's got his position, and he has made it very clear he's going to live with it," said Republican pollster Whit Ayres.
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Remarkably, those who supported Terri represented nearly every walk of life and faith. Even many of the press types did, too, although their thoughts never made it past the filters.
So who were for her death? We had those backing Mikey, people like Felos and Dethnell, who love euthanasia. We had a few Scientologists, and a group of gays, and finally the agitators hired for pay. The overall numbers were tiny compared to those supporting Terri, but they were loud, noisy, obnoxious.
However, delegates to the Log Cabin Republicans annual convention said Friday they also fear that the former New York mayor, in his bid to capture the Republican presidential nomination, might be waffling as he reaches out to the more conservative GOP voters who hold sway in the primaries.
"Mainstream Republican voters and moderate voters are going to vote for you. Don't tilt to the right," said Frank Ricchiazzi, who helped found the Log Cabin group 30 years ago.
Ricchiazzi, who wore an "I Love Rudy" button, cited Giuliani's remarks on abortion during the GOP presidential candidates' debate Thursday night
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