Posted on 02/16/2007 4:34:15 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
Long dismissed by Washington insiders as incapable of receiving the Republican Party's presidential nomination because of his pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control views, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was lavished with praise Friday by an icon of American conservatism.
"He is much stronger than anyone could have predicted six months ago," said former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia. "New York is four times safer than it used to be. It's one of the greatest achievements of government capability in the 20th century. And Rudy just has to go out and say, 'This is who I am. If you think the world's dangerous, and you need a tough guy … that's me.' "
Gingrich, who co-wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed with Giuliani last month, said he is not endorsing the man who led New York City through the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and he noted that he may still jump into the presidential race against him.
But the words of praise from the architect of the GOP's 1994 takeover of Congress capped a big week for Giuliani, which included more encouraging poll numbers, a raucous reception from California Republicans, and the latest round of softball interviews in which he has been able to downplay his liberal social views by espousing his commitment to appointing "strict constructionist" judges.
Nearly a year before the first presidential primaries are held, a Gallup Poll released Wednesday found that Giuliani has a 16-point lead among Republicans over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In general election matchups, Gallup found that Giuliani leads Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., by nine points and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., by two points, within the survey's three-point margin of error. McCain, by contrast, ties Obama and trails Clinton by three percentage points.
Saying that former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is going through a "little bit of a rough patch," Gingrich was noticeably cooler toward Romney today than he has been in the past.
Back in November, while appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Gingrich singled out Romney as someone who is working "very hard" to fill a vacuum in the GOP for a "clearer voice of conservatism," adding that Romney "may well succeed."
Gingrich adopted a different tone toward Romney today after cost estimates for his health care plan, which have soared above the former governor's expectations, which revealed.
"I think that he's very smart, he's very articulate, and he's had a little bit of a rough patch with the cost of the health plan is Massachusetts," said Gingrich, "But he's a very smart guy, and I think he'll be a very significant candidate."
In assessing Giuliani's potential appeal to conservatives, Gingrich pointed to Giuliani saying in recent interviews that he would appoint "strict constructionist" judges.
Gingrich predicted that one of Giuliani's GOP rivals would air television ads attacking him for having made positive statements in the past about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice appointed by former President Clinton, who has upheld abortion rights.
Gingrich, however, seemed unconvinced that the line of attack would work
"And as he said the other day," said Gingrich, "he would have appointed the same two Supreme Court justices as Bush did. So conservatives have got to decide, you know, is that acceptable or not acceptable?"
Oh, I certainly hope that doesn't happen, my friend.
Yep, and we can all see who's helping the Democrats.
Some of the brainiacs around here are saying there aren't massive fundamental changes by putting Hillary in the WH?
Free Republic has officially jumped the shark.
Posted by Rex Anderson to Kryptonite On News/Activism ^ 02/16/2007 12:44:32 AM CST • 280 of 417 ^
Maybe Sessions himself should run.
Now there's an idea. I have as much respect for Sessions as I have for anybody else in politics.
Are you kidding me? Sessions couldn't get elected on Free Republic. He has an hispanic wife.
Posted by Rex Anderson to EternalVigilance
On News/Activism ^ 02/16/2007 1:00:05 AM CST • 283 of 417 ^
I have nothing but respect for Pete Sessions, and his family. I've actually worked for him.
That comment on 280 was for your border friends who call the President "Jorge".
What class.
It makes me sick. :(
This web site is not indicative of what's going on in the real GOP; let's have a little faith -- at least for a while.
LOL
How many hundreds of thousands of dollars does has Keyes paid back, how many does he owe?
Send donations... Need money to stop abortions/ pay for fines & First Class Airfare! Quick!
I'm sure they've worked up a new scam for this cycle; inventive, they are, winners, they're not.
I guess they feel she could be stopped - that we could block everything with 40 solid republican senators. We can't stop the SCOTUS appointments, that's for sure. and the appointments she would make to the executive branch - we are still living with that cancer from the Clintons 8 years in office - agencies like State and CIA and DOJ filled with Dem "moles". and all the executive orders that went unchallenged.
Give them another 8 years, we may never be able to put the puzzle back together again.
I'm not thinking of the all or nothing conservatives. I'm thinking of the gullible Demos and independents.
I know what you mean; there's more of "them" than there are of "us."
People outside of FR see these big name endorsements come out, it stokes the fire in their belly. So I wouldn't be too worried about the outside world beyond the barriers of FR.
A lot of people still remember the dark days of the Clinton White House.
No matter which candidate gets the nod, I'll pull the lever for that candidate. There is no way in hell do I want to revisit the "glory days" of the Clinton White House.
The last half was you trying to cover your tracks. The first part showed what you think of FReepers in general.
I made a wild prediction on another thread - if Rudy wins the nomination, and is polling well in the general election as 2008 moves forward - papa Bush is going to green light Jeb as VP. call me crazy. I think Bush 41 wants his other son to be president someday, he has a bitter taste in his mouth on how GWB was treated. Jeb will be 63 years old in 2016. If he ever wanted to run for President, he would have to decide to either do it in 2012 running against Hillary (if she wins in 2008), or come in "cold" in 2016 for an open seat. Better to do it from the VP slot.
Jeb has alot of positives - good with Hispanics, from an important state, conservatives seem to like him. OK, there is the "not another Bush" negative, but as VP it might not be so intense.
No matter who we run, I have a sickening feeling she's going to win. The Clinton machine has proven pretty much unbeatable.
And today, I forced myself to watch 20 minutes of Oprah. I tried to figure out what makes those women in the audience tick because we need to find a way to tap into that.
That is the age group and demographics that voted for Clinton. Twice.
And to save my life, I couldn't figure out what this author/guru was talking about. It was all mushy feelings which are fine, of course, but I didn't understand what he was saying about them. He kept saying "I'm not talking about empowerment or positive thinking..." and then went on and talked and it sure sounded like he was talking about empowerment and positive thinking.
I give up with that demographic. But they freak me out because they'll vote in droves for Hillary and there's nothing we can do about it.
When Clinton took office, there was a huge cottage industry that groups like Keyes' RA, DF, etc. made buckets of money from, and most of that ended when Bush took office.
What a dark time that 2001 must have been for groups like Keyes', that existed solely to fund lifestyles for themselves through donations.
I think Keyes is looking toward the bright and profitable future of a Hillary presidency! Ah... the good old days, with lots of donation money, 80% or more going to fund the lifestyle an aging ambassador deserves!
Pubs need a clear message clearly delivered to win. We did not have that.
Only your freeper friends who refer to President Bush as "Jorge", genius.
Back in the good ol' days, they used to be a minority here.
Pure libel. No surprise coming from you.
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