Free Republic

In last Wednesday’s National Review Online, Evans & Novak reporter David Freddoso hammers former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as a man with a mean streak. Freddoso’s piece recalls some of Giuliani’s more colorful moments in office including his once saying, “If you tell me off, I tell you off -- that’s my personality.” Freddoso repeats the often-stated myth that Giuliani was hated by the end of his term, until the September 11 terrorist attack rehabilitated his supposedly tattered reputation and rocketed him to global fame and acclaim. On the contrary, a key survey showed that New Yorkers...

As a presidential candidate, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is for real. Despite his unorthodox Republicanism — his support for legal abortion, his embrace of gun-control, and his unwillingness to act against court-imposed same-sex marriages — Giuliani now leads in several polls for the GOP nomination. The common wisdom is that most Republican voters know nothing of Rudy’s social liberalism, and so his support will dwindle as they learn more. But this may prove wrong. Knowledgeable folks on the Right, disheartened by a presidential field that lacks viable, trustworthy conservatives, are talking themselves into supporting the man who...