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Michael Goodwin: Giuliani's debate waffle on abortion
SacBee ^ | May 9, 2007 | By Michael Goodwin

Posted on 05/09/2007 12:22:24 AM PDT by Jim Robinson

Al Gore was guilty of it. John Kerry was the master. Hillary Clinton has a family history. But Rudy Giuliani? Not that Rudy Giuliani! Yep, the former mayor of New York, tough-guy champion of clarity and action, waffled, ducked and dodged in the clutch. Asked a series of straight questions about abortion during the Republican presidential debate, Giuliani proved incapable of giving a straight answer.

Would it be OK with him if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade? Yes and no. Is he still for public funding of abortion? Maybe.

Finally, on his third try, he managed a tortured concession that he supported a woman's right to make her own choice. He said it so hesitantly that I half expected him to apologize afterward.

Somebody said that with his first two answers, he was flip-flopping. Not really. He was being evasive. That's worse. Nobody wants a waffler in the Oval Office, especially in a time of war. Just ask President Kerry. Doubts about Hillary Clinton's strength of conviction have given life to Barack Obama.

~~snip~~

Although his relatively liberal views on gun control and gay rights put him at odds with the Republican primary base, Giuliani's support for abortion rights is the real difference maker. As Christie Whitman noted in her book, "It's My Party Too," Gerald Ford, in 1976, was and remains the only GOP presidential nominee to be pro-choice since the Supreme Court's 1973 decision finding a constitutional right to abortion.

With pro-life voters holding a veto on the nominee for 30 years, many observers said Giuliani could never win the nomination. Even as he sprinted to the front of the pack -- his lead over Sen. John McCain was 25 points in mid-February -- skeptics said conservatives would dump him.

(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: elections; flipflopping; giuliani; prolife; waffler

1 posted on 05/09/2007 12:22:28 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson
Somebody said that with his first two answers, he was flip-flopping. Not really. He was being evasive. That's worse.

LOL!

2 posted on 05/09/2007 12:39:57 AM PDT by jdm (Star Me Kitten)
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To: pissant; Liz

Ping!


3 posted on 05/09/2007 12:41:38 AM PDT by Clemenza (Rudy Giuliani, like Pesto and Seattle, belongs in the scrap heap of '90s Culture)
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To: Jim Robinson

Pooor ole Roody. His biggest worry is makin the aborts mad at him or the queers. (This is a real leader?) To hell with you other people out there!


4 posted on 05/09/2007 3:49:29 AM PDT by Waco
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To: Jim Robinson
He was being evasive. That's worse. Nobody wants a waffler in the Oval Office, especially in a time of war.

***************

One of the reasons the Giuliani-supporters fall back on to explain their reasoning is that Giuliani would protect us in the WOT. If this doesn't knock that out from under them, will anything?

Unfortunately, since it was a sham from the beginning, I have no confidence that it will.

5 posted on 05/09/2007 5:57:59 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: Jim Robinson

He’s going to be freefalling.


6 posted on 05/09/2007 8:27:01 AM PDT by showme_the_Glory (No more rhymes, and I mean it! ..Anybody want a peanut.....)
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