Posted on 06/26/2006 10:40:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
With Rudy Giuliani crisscrossing the country in support of Republican candidates and raising money for his new political action committee, it is beginning to look inevitable that he will seek the presidency in 2008. Despite his lead in many early polls, skeptics still dismiss his chances of winning the Republican nomination given his personal background and liberal views on social issues. There is no doubt that these will be obstacles for Giuliani, but compared to the forces that will propel him into the White House, they are small potatoes.
"History is in motion, and those moving with it are so caught up that they cannot always see its broad outlines," Mark Helprin once wrote. Those who count out Giuliani because of the politics of abortion and gay rights have lost sight of the broad outlines of our age. The fight against terrorism is not only the defining issue of our time, but it represents an epic event in the history of Western civilization. Giuliani is the best leader available to confront the terrorist threat, which is why the course of history points to his becoming president.
Epic periods in history have a tendency to produce leaders who may have once seemed improbable. Winston Churchill was considered washed-up in the 1930s when he spoke of the rising Nazi menace. But history took its inevitable course, and by 1940 Churchill had ascended to the role of Prime Minister, because he was the ideal leader to fight Germany.
LIKE CHURCHILL, Giuliani is a survivor, a fighter, and a man of tremendous will. And just as Churchill's words guided the British public through solemn hours of German air bombardment, Giuliani became the spokesman for American resolve on the darkest day of the nation's history.
The mere fact that there is a serious debate over whether or not Giuliani could be elected is a remarkable testament to how inspired Americans were by his leadership on that day. Normally we discuss vice presidents, governors, senators or military leaders as possible presidential candidates. It is rare, if not unprecedented, for a former mayor to be considered as a presidential candidate so earnestly by so many people.
Though it has been nearly five years since Giuliani's leadership on Sept. 11, a March Quinnipiac University poll found that Giuliani was America's most popular politician. Despite his stances on social issues, a Gallup Poll earlier this month found him leading all potential Republican primary opponents. On June 13 in Manhattan, Giuliani demonstrated his fundraising potential by raking in $2 million for his new political action committee, Solutions America, in a single evening. That was twice the amount that his chief rival for the Republican nomination, John McCain, raised in New York City the day before.
Sept. 11 was not Giuliani's first brush with Islamic extremism, and in a sense, his whole career has been building toward a confrontation with terrorism. As a U.S. Attorney, Giuliani investigated the 1985 murder of Leon Klinghoffer, the Jewish New Yorker who was sitting in his wheelchair when he was thrown overboard from the Achille Lauro cruise ship by Palestinian terrorists. Giuliani dedicated a good portion of his 1994 mayoral inauguration speech to the first attack on the World Trade Center. Despite being ridiculed as paranoid, Giuliani built an emergency command center in New York City to prepare for an attack. (The center was poorly located in 7 World Trade Center, which was destroyed with the Twin Towers, but the fact that he was preparing for such threats before Sept. 11 demonstrates that Giuliani was ahead of his time.)
AS HE FOUGHT TO TRANSFORM New York City, the New York Times editorial board and liberal interest groups denounced him every step of the way. Giuliani's style of forcefully stating his position and going on the offensive during press conferences will win him the respect of conservative primary voters who are fed up with pandering Republican politicians. In fact, this may be the main factor that ends up separating him from McCain, whose reputation as a maverick has been built on taking positions that made him into a liberal media darling.
Giuliani is more than just a tough talker. Throughout his career, whether it was as a mob prosecutor, a crime fighting mayor or an entrepreneur, Giuliani has shown an ability to think creatively about solving problems. And since Sept. 11, no politician has spoken with more depth or intelligence about the nature of the terrorist threat. This will become apparent during any televised debate with Republican opponents.
Two years is an eternity in politics, no doubt. But no matter what happens between now and then, the threat of terrorism, unfortunately, will still be with us and remain the defining issue of the campaign. Given Giuliani's record of overcoming long odds, of achieving things that many people once viewed as impossible, it is startling that anybody would dismiss his chances of becoming president. Those who do so are not only severely underestimating the man, but they are misjudging the trajectory of history.
Philip Klein writes from New York. You can contact him through his website: www.philipklein.com.
Where's the barf alert?
BARF
rudy and mccain will split the rino vote in the primary and both are far too egotistical to drop out. This will allow a conservative to actually win the primary, that is assuming conservatives dont split the vote either ;).
NYC became a grand city again under Giuliani's mayorship. I saw it with my own eyes over years of visits. It always befuddled me when relatives living in Manhattan would kind of look at me oddly when I credited him with the improvements. After 9/11 they got over their NYT-ingrained mindset and at least understood where I was coming from.
That's enough praise for the man. I want George Allen as my next President.
Now yer talkin'.
I believe very strongly that if the demonrats put shrillary up, we can beat her with George Allen. Just need to get people familiar with the man at this point, as relatively few, including self-described republicans, recognize his name or know much else about him.
McCain is going nowhere. He's toast.
Did you vote for Hillary too on the sidebar poll?
McPain conjures hatred among conservatives. You're right, he's toast. I see him causing potential catastrophe as a third-party candidate. He's just the type of worm to go that route.
McCain will not have the money to run any kind of serious campaign. When he loses in the first 3 primaries he is toast unless he spends his own money.
How about instead of Republicans getting hung up on which candidate denounces abortion the most (not that he would have the power to outlaw it even if he won), we realize we are at war with an enemy few people want to say out loud.
Abortion is not an election issue with me. Illegal immigration, border security, spending cuts, tax cuts, and supporting our military are my priorities. The rest are not on my interest list. All the social programs, agencies, and departments should be eliminated.
I"m with you there on george allen, i think he'll make a fantastic candidate and far too many people underestimate him.
Its about the judges and other policies the executive has control over (FDA,HHS etc.). I want a pro-life president but Rudy can change his mind. Bush 41 said the right things after being "pro-choice". He acknowledged he was pro-choice again after he left the White House but then shut up when his son got into politics.
Rudy can make pro-life noise just like Bush 41 even though he may not believe it in his heart.
I think the presidency is about leadership. I certainly don't agree with everything that Bush does, but I respect his leadership.
Giuliani is a great leader. He took apart the Mob so completely that it has never recovered. He governed "the city that can't be governed." He did so much good in such a systematic way that Noo Yawk is still in pretty good shape under Bloomnerd. Rudy showed tremendous leadership in NYC on and after 9/11. I think he'd be a good candidate - much better than McCain. Allen I don't know much about.
If Rudy's soft on certain conservative issues, it's up to "da base" to roar on those issues to keep him in line. Our voices can make a difference - the conservative outcry prevented Miers, and produced Alito.
I read Rudy's book, "On Leadership." We could do a lot worse.
I'd say, "That's my two cents" - but a much better man has already patented that phrase on FR!
I agree; Giuliani is a born leader. I'll say again, as I've said before, that I think he would be a terrific VICE-presidential candidate, coupled with some more conservative candidate for president. Giuliani is a bulldog on terrorism, and the new prez could safely put G. in charge of the anti-terrorism efforts. Also, if the worst happened and something happened to the president, Giuliani has already demonstrated that he knows how to deal with an emergency. I hope he continues to run for president, just to keep his name in the ring so that someone with a better chance at the presidency will draft him for Vice.
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