Posted on 08/04/2007 9:18:34 AM PDT by wagglebee
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- A new poll shows that over half of Republican voters can't identify that Rudy Giuliani is the lone GOP presidential candidate who supports abortion. However, the new Pew survey finds that pro-life voters and those who are paying more attention to the presidential race are more likely to know that fact.
Among all self-identified Republican voters, just 41 percent are aware that the former New York City mayor is only Republican in the race to favor legalized abortion.
Awareness of Giuliani's position is higher among Republican voters who have given a lot of thought to the candidates as 58 percent correctly identify his pro-abortion stance.
Only 40 percent of those who have given "some" attention to the presidential race know Giuliani is pro-abortion and just 25 percent of those who have paid little or no attention can cite that fact.
There also is an ideological divide as conservatives (who tend to be more pro-life) are more likely to identify Giuliani as pro-abortion than moderate or liberal Republicans (who are more likely to be pro-abortion) by a 47-30 percentage point margin.
The Pew survey found that, among voters in both parties, 39 percent can identify Giuliani has pro-abortion. That's an increase of two percent over the 37 percent found in Pew's June poll.
As more Americans focus on the presidential elections and as abortion has been a big issue for debate regarding Giuliani over the last few months, more Republicans appear to be favoring other candidates.
Pew found Giuliani leading the race with the support of 27 percent of GOP voters nationally, but that is down 5 percent from last month. Fred Thompson, who is pro-life, has jumped eight percent to 18 percent, John McCain has lost seven percent to drop to 16 percent overall, and Mitt Romney went up two points to 10 percent.
Other polls show that Giuliani's pro-abortion position is hurting him among Republicans.
A June Harris Poll found that the more conservative the Republican the more likely Giuliani's pro-abortion views are off-putting.
Some 26% of adults agree that his positions on issues such as abortion make them unable to vote for him -- and the percentage is high enough to make his road to the White House more difficult.
Another 43 percent say his pro-abortion position isn't a deciding factor and 31 percent are not sure, meaning his stance could still prompt them to oppose his candidacy.
While about one-quarter of Republicans say Giuliani's pro-abortion views would cause them to vote for someone else, this percentage rises to 35 percent when self-identified conservative Republicans examine his views.
That could be a huge factor in early primary states like Iowa and South Carolina where conservative Republicans dominate the elections there.
Pro-Life Ping
This is even further challenged when the Conservatives split up their primary votes among 2-3 good candidates, that could hand the nomination to Rudy.
I know many good, strong Conservatives who support Rudy because they think he is the only one who can win.
Sad, yes, but it is also a lesson that we shouldn’t predict anything based solely on the feeling we get from reading posts here. Get out and educate.
That’s because the liberal media isn’t talking about it. They want Rudy to get nominated first so they can bring it up (and all of Rudy’s other skeletons) then and hope conservatives stay home (which most of them will).
Never underestimate how dumb the electorate is.
Very true.
LEGAL votes are 99% of the electorate (the remaining 1% are dead people Dems dig up.) Why should anyone (RNC or DNC) pander to illegal voters..
This isn’t about Caucasian or Hispanic or whatever race/culture.. it is about legal vs illegal.
Personally, I think we need to know just exactly who they are surveying.
AND they have no idea Rudy dresses up like a woman and then marches in gay pride parades....
That’s an interesting obsession you have there
Rudy doesn’t believe in abortion but also believes it is not the government’s business. To me, that’s core conservatism.
As someone who supported Rudy earlier in his campaign I can tell you that I gave up on him more for the fact that he is a product of an ultra leftist political machine (NYC), than for his abortion stand. In other words New York politicians, GOP or Dem, do not think like the people in the country they would represent.
Now I do believe it’s good that anybody to whom abortion is their overriding issue be told the facts about Giuliani. I just don’t think it will hold as much sway with other Republicans as some here might think.
As time goes on, I think you're right. Rudy's getting the nomination would confirm that abortion has lost the importance it had for the last few decades. I know I'll never vote for him, I'd rather have Hillary, which would give us back a strong Republican Congress in both houses in 2010.
I, personally, think that although I would love a world where abortion didn't exist, where homosexuals couldn't marry, and religious freedom was truly a concept embraced by all, when that day comes I want to be able to Thank God, and not praise alah.
If true, this doesn’t say much good of the GOP constituency. Rudy’s stance on abortion isn’t a secret, nor is it ambiguous.
If the stereotype of the GOPer as a dull-witted, ignorant rube accurate?
Don't be so sure.. If Hilldog wins, and the dems hold the house and senate, then they will be in power during a crucial time, the 2010 census. Although drawing district lines is a State issue, the influence of the federal government in power has great influence over how the lines are drawn. Other issues would be potential judicial nominations, of which many are for life. An election is far more than one person, it is about a system and setting in place events that will last long beyond their term(s).
No matter how much I dislike Rudy, if the general comes around and it is him vs. Hilldog/Obama, I will vote Rudy. The alternative is unacceptable.
He could probably change his position and declare himself against abortion...and most people would never know, that’s the quality of the electorate.
I’m forwarding this to non-freepers. Rudee & Judee for prez? NO THANKS!
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