Giuliani's Convictions Could Win Over Republicans

DMN/ vis Real Clear Politics ^ | July 7, 2006 | Mark Davis

[chiller]

Twenty-eight months to go, and I can't wait.

( edit )

Since Condi insists she isn't interested - and for the moment I believe her - speculation ranges from base-pleasing Republicans like Sens. Bill Frist, Sam Brownback and my current favorite, George Allen, to the intriguing prospects of envelope-pushers like John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

And these two intriguing figures constitute my point of the day. There are two things I have stopped saying: first, Mr. McCain can't win, and second, Rudy won't run.

I still don't believe Mr. McCain will be the '08 nominee, but his loyal support for the war has healed some distaste that the GOP base has had for him since he challenged Mr. Bush six years ago. His disconnect with many Republicans on overhauling campaign finance is still an anvil around his prospects, but I can no longer write him off.

As for Mr. Giuliani, I used to say that he won't run and couldn't win if he did. The gay-friendly, abortion-rights-supporting ex-New York mayor whose legacy includes an embrace of gun control? It would seem highly unlikely.

Unless you were in a room with me at the Hotel Crescent Court last month as the Dallas County Republican Party welcomed Mr. Giuliani to a fundraiser also heralding local congressional candidates.

I served as master of ceremonies, and there was a thoroughly polite welcome for the GOP primary survivors who will try to unseat Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Chet Edwards.

But it was Mr. Giuliani who put a room of Reagan-loving red-staters into a positive swoon.

He did it with steadfast support for the Bush war doctrine, coupled with a passion for tight borders that even the still-admired incumbent cannot muster. He did it with strong fiscal conservatism, another Bush weakness. And he did it with a passionate pitch for school choice, an issue Republicans have neglected - mysteriously, since scads of Republicans and Democrats want it.

His content was great. His style was even better. His sharp wit and off-the-cuff comfort are miles beyond the average glazed, scripted politician. He sports a good-natured partisan streak that puts him a head above Mr. McCain, who seems to gag on any sentence suggesting that a Democrat might be wrong.

This is not my prediction that Mr. Giuliani's hand will rest on a Bible at the swearing-in on Jan. 20, 2009. But the Bible-embracing core of the GOP shows a willingness to consider him as he includes evangelical groups in his curious tour of various Republican constituencies.

He will not launch a national gun grab, leaving gun statutes to the cities. He will not push for nationwide gay marriage, happy to leave those decisions to the states, where the Constitution says they belong. He will not pound the bully pulpit for affirmative action, leaving that to the courts.

And speaking of the courts, he speaks glowingly of Mr. Bush's Supreme Court selections, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, suggesting he does not necessarily dream of packing the court with sure-fire abortion-rights opponents.

Throw in the tasty imagery of the Mayor of America wiping the debate stage floor with Mrs. Clinton or virtually anyone else, and it's the kind of thing to make a Republican heart quicken.

I don't know yet whether I can be a Rudy voter, but I'd enjoy watching him try to make me one.

Mark Davis is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. The Mark Davis Show is heard weekdays nationwide on the ABC Radio Network. His e-mail address is mdavis@wbap.com.

[chiller]

While George Allen is my current favorite, I agree with the author. Rudy could be the one. In fact, he would be easily elected if we don't worry about his liberal tendencies. And that's a decision we'll have to make because we haven't got the perfect candidate.

Flame away

[JmyBryan]

I'm basically a single issue - War on Terror - voter. I wouldn't hesitate to vote for Giuliani.

[jla]

He did it with steadfast support for the Bush war doctrine, coupled with a passion for tight borders that even the still-admired incumbent cannot muster. He did it with strong fiscal conservatism, another Bush weakness. And he did it with a passionate pitch for school choice, an issue Republicans have neglected - mysteriously, since scads of Republicans and Democrats want it.

In other words, Giuliani told the audience what they wanted to hear, not what he really believed.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

I suppose I could live with it. I'd chose Allen first, too, but Rudy would be good on the WOT. His stance on abortion and gay pride irk me, but in reality, those two issues are things that a President can't really do much about, as they are and should remain, States issues.

Who knows? I didn't know much about President Bush pre-2000 and there certainly isn't another Ronald Reagan coming over the hill that I can see.

No Republican is every conservative enough for me, so there would be no pleasing me 100% anyway. And I'll NEVER vote for a Dimowit. Ever. So that's a non-issue. ;)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"every" = "ever" conservative enough...

[Ouderkirk]

I would have no problem with Rudy if there was a solid party discipline on HOR and Senate. Rudy can talk about gun control and gay whatever, just can't get it past the congress. What I would have a problem with would be his judicial nominations. That is the wild card that I'm just not willing to chance on a Rudy as President.

[from occupied ga]

Guiliani - anti-gun, pro-abortion, anti-business, pro-gay marriage, pro-tax. What's not to like? (for a liberal)

[diggerwillow]

War on Terror, Immigration, Fair Tax, Presidential.

Rudy will be there in the end.

[MBB1984]

No flame, personally, I like Rudy, but I can't vote for Rudy. According to the article, Rudy won't push for gay marriage, won't push for gun control, and won't push for affirmative action.

If the BEST the Republican Party can do is nominate someone who won't actively push for liberal/leftist ideas, then I must vote third party. I want to vote for someone who will actively push AGAINST gun control, affirmative action and gay marriage. As far as I am concerned, if a candidate will not actively push the conservative agenda he is a part of the problem in America. A vote for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil.

[longtermmemmory]

Rudy is a non starter. Too NY for the USA.
McCain is Hitlary lite.

[Liz]

In other words, Giuliani told the audience what they wanted to hear, not what he really believed.

Heheh---nice, very nice, zinger.

I wonder if Rudy told the audience that, if elected, his pal, failed HomeLandSec nominee Bernard Kerik, would be looking over their FBI files (smirk).

[GaltMeister]

I like Allen as well, I think he is the best candidate out there. How 'bout the best of both worlds, run Allen and Rudy on the same ticket? Rudy would be great for Cheney's office, IMO.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

If the RNC jams Rudy, McCain or Romney down my throat, I will write in somebody for POTUSA.

[jla]

War on Terror, Immigration, Fair Tax, Presidential.

Pure speculation and wishful thinking, unless you've some factual reasoning as to why you believe this.
As for Giuliani being "Presidential" -

Rudy Giuliani: The Knight and ‘The Queen’     11/28/2001 According to The London Times, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani gives kisses before he leaves every morning, but to neither his estranged wife, nor his girlfriend. Instead, says The Times, “Sir Rudy” gives a peck on the cheek to the two homosexual men he’s living with. “We always get a little kiss, it’s cute,” says wealthy car dealer Howard Koeppel, with whom Giuliani has been sharing an apartment since June. When Giuliani was recently knighted, Koeppel tells The Times that he told “Sir Rudy” to call him “Queen Howard.” Koeppel (63) and his homosexual lover Mark Hsiao (41) have been comforting Giuliani, and trying to make him laugh, in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. On the way to a recent fundraising dinner for the pro-homosexual state lobby group, The Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA), Koeppel ribbed Giuliani by saying that if the ESPA was able to raise $100,000 donation for the homosexual victims of the September 11 attacks, Giuliani should agree to appear on Showtime’s controversial Queer as Folk dressed in drag. Surprisingly, Giuliani agreed. Marty Algaze of Gay Men’s Health Crisis once summed up Queer as Folk — a show that touts graphic sexual activity as one of its biggest draws — as one that would “shock a lot of people.” Showtime’s Queer as Folk was inspired by the original series in Britain, which featured a storyline in which a 29-year-old man has a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy. The propensity to shock people is not new to Giuliani, who likes to dress in women’s clothes as a stage act, and even did so once at a Pride Agenda fund-raiser. According to the Times, Giuliani has attended every “gay pride” parade in New York during his eight years as mayor. In 1992, during his first run for mayor, Giuliani took part in a homosexual “pride” parade that included a contingent of pedophile activists marching behind a banner for NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association). — Ken Ervin

 

Concerned Women for America
1015 Fifteenth St. N.W., Suite 1100
Washington, D.C. 20005
Phone: (202) 488-7000
Fax: (202) 488-0806
E-mail: mail@cwfa.org

[noname07718]

Rudy is my hero for 9/11 of course. BUT he is my hero for how he had Yassar Aarafat escorted back to the residence he was staying at during his UN visit many years ago. When he said that “Terrorists” are no allowed ot walk the streets in his city, he was way ahead of the curve. THAT’s the reason he is my hero.

[aculeus]

No flame here.

The perfect candidate does not exist.

Rudy can win and would make a great terror-fighting President.

[rep-always]

You have hit the nail on the head. If we have the congress I have no problems with Giuliani. But I am terrified of any Supreme Court nominee and any other judiciary appointments.

[trickyricky]

In fact, he would be easily elected if we don't worry about his liberal tendencies.

What are you smoking?

That's the very thing that will keep him from EVER being elected president.

The ONLY reason Bush is president is because he conned the conservatives into
believing he was one of them.

[Alberta's Child]

Any slim chance Rudy had in 2008 took another big hit last week when Bernie Kerik -- Rudy's former police commissioner and the guy Rudy himself recommended to the White House to head the Department of Homeland Security -- was publicly exposed as the corrupt SOB many of us already knew he was.

[linda_22003]

CWA's just jealous because he looks nicer in a skirt than most of them do. ;-D