Posted on 05/02/2007 6:04:11 AM PDT by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON -- Everybody said Rudy Giuliani would be about as appealing in the South as a three-day-old bagel.
The former mayor of New York is a Yankee who has been married three times and supports gay rights and abortion rights.
But he drew an "overflow" crowd when he spoke to the Alabama Legislature last month, according to The Associated Press. He's campaigning in Georgia and South Carolina and dropped by a conference in North Carolina last week. He's going back to Alabama May 9.
On Giuliani's Web site, joinrudy2008.com, there's a link to a blog by David Brody, a political reporter for CBN, the Christian news network. He warns it would be a mistake to rule Giuliani out.
Apparently on a first-name basis with Giuliani, Brody writes, "Rudy's message on social issues may hurt him in the Bible Belt, but he has other factors that play well." And he linked to a video clip of a couple of guys singing Lynryd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" on a TV talent show.
Whoa.
Many political observers who once assumed Giuliani didn't have a prayer in the conservative South are reconsidering.
It's an uphill battle to be sure, but Giuliani's message of fiscal conservatism and being tough on terrorism sells in the region -- even if his support for state gun control regulations doesn't.
During last year's campaign, he was the star attraction at a fundraiser for Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition head who was running for lieutenant governor of Georgia. Reed lost, but Giuliani is back in the South, campaigning for himself this time.
In his speech April 10 to the Alabama Legislature, Giuliani wrapped himself in the Reagan legacy -- he was No. 3 in the Reagan Justice Department. He insisted he will not shift positions with the wind but, like Reagan, will set a course and stick with it. And, he promised to cut taxes.
Giuliani, who leads the pack of GOP presidential hopefuls in polls and fundraising, would be the strongest Republican in a general election, political scientists say. The question is whether he can persuade the party's conservative base to give him the chance.
Touting his post-9/11 leadership in New York, Giuliani ripped a page from President Bush's 2004 playbook last week and charged that his Democratic competitors would be weak in the fight against terrorism.
A Democratic president will let up on that fight, prolonging it at a cost of more American lives, he said in New Hampshire. The country would be better off electing a Republican -- namely himself.
Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards all responded vigorously, a sign that they take Giuliani seriously.
So do some Southern politicians. Among them is Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who wrote in a letter to the editor of the Shreveport Times that, after prayer and consideration, he is backing Giuliani.
"Even with all the international threats we face," Vitter wrote, "we'll sleep soundly at night with Rudy in the White House."
"And," he said, "while I may disagree with Rudy on some issues that are very important to me, I am confident he's the right man for the job."
What makes Giuliani palatable is his assurance to Vitter and others that he'll appoint judges who are strict constitutionalists and won't "legislate from the bench."
One major factor in Giuliani's favor is the new, front-loaded primary election calendar. New York, New Jersey and California now are among the many states holding primaries Feb. 5.
Political scientist Merle Black of Emory University says that Giuliani likely will win New York and New Jersey, and if he wins California, too, that day, he could be unstoppable. If Giuliani wins the top slot, he'll pick someone like the actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee as his running mate to balance the ticket, Black said.
Giuliani knows many Republicans won't agree with him on everything.
"I will tell you what I believe. If you agree with it, fine. If you don't agree with it, you have a right not to agree with it," he told the Alabama Legislature. "If you don't agree, you have a right not to vote for me."
Yeah, here it is:
Lord please send this Yankee Liberal back home, in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
I can’t see why he wouldn’t eat grits unless he didn’t like Polenta as a kid. If you don’t like Polenta you won’t like Grits.
Well - allow me to go against my own use of polls.
I don’t know where McCain is popular in S.C. - but it ain’t in my neck of the woods.
That poll is a total shock - goes against everything I see and hear on a daily basis.
It’s like someone saying that Graham is popular in South Carolina - or Inglis.....
NOPE
I think it’s the word Polenta.
Sounds funky.
Maybe that’s it - GRITS - it is not an appealing word.
BTTT lol
I am selling that bridge.
FYI - Rudy is the keynote speaker at The Citadel’s graduation this year.
The Citadel is hardly given to inviting liberals to it’s parade ground.
Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, is scheduled to appear at The Citadel, a state-supported military college in South Carolina, another key primary state. The school has asked Giuliani to speak about “principled leadership,” said Charlene Gunnells, a spokeswoman for the school. Last year, Citadel’s commencement speaker was Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Marsha Mercer knows NOTHING about the south. This article is from WASHINGTON STATE!
Hers is the identical ignorant attitude which puts out a few bails of hey and things that makes them souther.
Bet she is impressed with Hillaries southern accent.
Guiliani’s problems are NOT his marriages, they are his left wing beliefs.
Why else would he, PER C-SPAN, this morning, have microfiled “all” his mayoral documents without any index. Essentially he had his records microfished in no particular order with no pattern.
Guiliani is hiding his NYC state of mind.
I agree with you.
Fred Thomson - has a solid chance to win the nomination.
Duncan Hunter - reminds me of my angry older uncle - no chance. Nice man - right on the issues - no chance.
Dear God, ANYONE that can beat Hitlery and Osama, I mean Obama, is fine with me...ANYONE!!
- George Will (a remowned liberal I suppose ???)
Right - EXACTLY...
Rudy - Fred - Mitt - Duncan......
Let simply have to work through the process - pick the nominee - come together - and WIN
What you seem to be calling the "center" was not long ago the far left.
What we really need are some radical conservatives to balance the left-wing radicals out there who have so long bandied their insanity about that people think they are merely liberals.
Rudy loses. Guns, Gays, Abortion, and immigration, and not necessarily in that order. The first is a Constitutional Right (which shall not be infringed), the second is not, the third is murder, and the last is a Constitutional obligation to secure our borders from foreign invasion.
As for being tough on terrorists, he did what to stop them, exactly?
All he did was refuse a check from the Saudis when he pretty much could count on billions in aid coming in, so a measly ten million was no big thing.
Nope, with his historical attitudes toward gunowners, WE are the "terrorists" Rudy would be tough on, not some foreigner with a vial of anthrax or a car bomb.
Y'all keep him. He never ran for mayor in America, only New York City.
Grits made it into the American diet when they were introduced to the first European settlers by the Indians up in New England.
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