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.
Leadership indicates a direction.
I'll not "follow" a "leader" who is goes in a direction I consider wrong.
Rudy didn't even do well here on our FR poll. Only McNuts did worse, (so far.)
"who is going" sheesh need that first cup of coffee.
Nobody in this potential field of candidates can engender the strong coalitions to beat the Hildabeast, and lets face it the squishy center doesn't give a rats ass about most things and the die-hards will bend a bit in the end when they see the writing on the wall.. Giuliani is the only chance to garner wide support and avoid a congressional ass whippin, and another, much more diabolical Clinton for 8 more years..
Interesting points. IIRC, Rudy actually was opposed to abortion early in his career, and it was supposedly his now ex-wife, Donna Hanover, who was responsible for his change on that and in fact his more liberal drift in general.
I suppose he could always change back again, or at least enough to adopt the GOP platform. And his having to court conservatives might be good for him and for us.
Thanks for your Hillary endorsement, Perrot would be a good VP as well.. :)
I am surprised by the poll at the right, George Allen v. Hillary. Almost 10% say they'd vote for a third party. How is it that George Allen can't even get pretty much unanimous support from Freepers in that fight?
A better indicator is to only look at FR members rather than the composite vote.
In the current Allen v Hillery poll, (members only,) 3rd party is at 7.7%
(Rudy was 20.8% (members only) in pushing folks to 3rd party.)
I also expected a higher vote total for Allen.
Personally I'm all for Rudy in '08, but he's not such a popular candidate here.
I can accept some more liberal views on social issues. For me, the WOT is job #1. Job #2 is keeping the liberal Dumocrats out of any meaningful power. Anything past that is fairly meaningless to me.
I'd even support a McCain/Lieberman ticket. I think they are both decent enough men, and maybe the country could benefit with a bipartisan ticket.
I'm a former Reform Party guy though, so to me a RINO is just another candidate to consider.
Outside of Republican forums, you really don't hear that much about George Allen. I'm not so sure he is the best guy to lead a Republican ticket because he seems fairly low profile. In other words, he doesn't seem to have 'stepped up' to take the lead on many issues at all.
Rudy would be awesome fighting the WOT, the only issue that matters. A democrat would be a disaster for the country.
Mccaine ain'r running it's Rudy's to lose.
I guess we can add that to the "one issue" list.
......Giuliani is the best leader available to confront the terrorist threat, which is why the course of history points to his becoming president......
That is the best description of the issues I have seen.
All you single issue types must review what the man has done and rethink your objections. Rudy dredged up NY from the abyss and made it a liveable place. He was there and risked his life on 911.
Given the choice between Rudy and McCain, Rudy will win hands down. He has a real record of real action. He did not get pissed off and shot down as a result.
I also think he is a good Rebulican candidate for president, but I would say that the majority of people have not even heard of George Allen, nor does he have an instantly recognizable face...George Allen has an extremely long way to go to gain the public's attention. But who knows, maybe he'll be a household name within a matter of time.
(((((PING)))
Sorry but Guiuliani is polling way over every Republican in the South and Western states. All the Republican candidates are in the single digits except for McCain.
I will sit out this election if McCain is the Presidential candidate.
You sound like the folks in Pennsylvania who won't vote for Senator Santorum because he made one error. Senator McCain is a very conservative Senator. It makes me wonder why we don't have 100 dem senators, 435 house members and the Democratic President. Sometimes it amazes me at people who will sit out of an election because they don't like what someone looks like or mad because he yells a bit. I guess another Clinton will look attractive to you just because we already survived eight years of Clintons doesn't mean we will survive eight more.
Because Allen Generates as much excitement as watching paint dry! He's totally boring. Sure he says what you want him to say and he can do many different with a football and a cowboy hat but when you listen to him he's quite boring! He can wear the hat but he can't generate the same excitement that Reagan or George Bush did when they wore them. They had personality and Charisma.
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