Conservative Case Against Rudy Giuliani

Human Events ^ | August 30 2006 | John Hawkins

[Reagan Man]

Rudy Giuliani, a contender for the presidency in 2008, is receiving an inordinate amount of positive attention. That's quite understandable since Rudy is charismatic, did a great job on the campaign trail for President Bush in 2004, and his phenomenal performance after 9/11 was much appreciated. However, likeable or not, having Rudy as the GOP's candidate in 2008 would be a big mistake. Here's a short, but sweet primer on some of Rudy's many flaws.

Rudy's Strong Pro-Abortion Stance

As these comments from a 1989 conversation with Phil Donahue show, Rudy Giuliani is staunchly in favor of abortion:

"I've said that I'll uphold a woman's right of choice, that I will fund abortion so that a poor woman is not deprived of a right that others can exercise, and that I would oppose going back to a day in which abortions were illegal.

I do that in spite of my own personal reservations. I have a daughter now; if a close relative or a daughter were pregnant, I would give my personal advice, my religious and moral views ...

Donahue: Which would be to continue the pregnancy.

Giuliani: Which would be that I would help her with taking care of the baby. But if the ultimate choice of the woman - my daughter or any other woman - would be that in this particular circumstance [if she had] to have an abortion, I'd support that. I'd give my daughter the money for it."

Worse yet, Giuliani even supports partial birth abortion:

"I'm pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights,Giuliani said. He was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions. "No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing," he responded." -- CNN.com, "Inside Politics" Dec 2, 1999

It's bad enough that Rudy is so adamantly pro-abortion, but consider what that could mean when it comes time to select Supreme Court Justices. Does the description of Giuliani that you've just read make you think he's going to select an originalist like Clarence Thomas, who would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade -- or does it make you think he would prefer justices like Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy who'd leave Roe v. Wade in place?

Rudy's abortion stance is bad news for conservatives who are pro-life or who are concerned about getting originalist judges on the Supreme Court.

An Anti-Second Amendment Candidate

In the last couple of election cycles, 2nd Amendment issues have moved to the back burner mainly because even Democratic candidates have learned that being tagged with the "gun grabber" label is political poison.

Unfortunately, Rudy Giuliani is a proponent of gun control who supported the Brady Bill and the Assault Weapon Ban.

Do Republicans really want to abandon their strong 2nd Amendment stance by selecting a pro-gun control nominee?

Soft on Gay Marriage

Other than tax cuts, the biggest domestic issue of the 2004 election was President Bush's support of a Constitutional Amendment to define marriage as being between a man and a woman. Unfortunately, Rudy Giuliani has taken a "Kerryesque" position on gay marriage.

Although Rudy, like John Kerry, has said that marriage should remain between a man and a woman, he also supports civil unions, "marched in gay-pride parades ...dressed up in drag on national television for a skit on Saturday Night Live (and moved in with a) wealthy gay couple" after his divorce. He also very vocally opposed running on a gay marriage amendment:

His thoughts on the gay-marriage amendment? "I don't think you should run a campaign on this issue," he told the Daily News earlier this month. "I think it would be a mistake for anybody to run a campaign on it -- the Democrats, the president, or anybody else."

Here's more from the New York Daily News:

"Rudy Giuliani came out yesterday against President Bush's call for a ban on gay marriage.

The former mayor, who Vice President Cheney joked the other night is after his job, vigorously defended the President on his post-9/11 leadership but made clear he disagrees with Bush's proposal to rewrite the Constitution to outlaw gays and lesbians from tying the knot.

"I don't think it's ripe for decision at this point," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I certainly wouldn't support [a ban] at this time," added Giuliani..."

Although Rudy may grudgingly say he doesn't support gay marriage (and it would be political suicide for him to do otherwise), where he really stands on the issue is an open question.

Pro-Illegal Immigration

As Tom Bevan of RealClearPolitics has pointed out, Rudy is an adherent of the same approach to illegal immigration that John McCain, Ted Kennedy, George Bush, and Harry Reid have championed:

"While McCain has taken heat for his support of comprehensive immigration reform, Rudy is every bit as pro-immigration as McCain - if not more so. On the O'Reilly Factor last week Giuliani argued for a "practical approach" to immigration and cited his efforts as Mayor of New York City to "regularize" illegal immigrants by providing them with access to city services like public education to "make their lives reasonable." Giuliani did say that "a tremendous amount of money should be put into the physical security" needed to stop the flow of illegal immigrants coming across the border, but his overall position on immigration is essentially indistinguishable from McCain's."

That's bad enough. But, as Michelle Malkin has revealed, under Giuliani, New York was an illegal alien sanctuary and "America's Mayor" actually sued the federal government in an effort to keep New York City employees from having to cooperate with the INS:

"When Congress enacted immigration reform laws that forbade local governments from barring employees from cooperating with the INS, Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed suit against the feds in 1997. He was rebuffed by two lower courts, which ruled that the sanctuary order amounted to special treatment for illegal aliens and were nothing more than an unlawful effort to flaunt federal enforcement efforts against illegal aliens. In January 2000, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal, but Giuliani vowed to ignore the law."

If you agree with the way that Nancy Pelosi and Company deal with illegal immigration, then you'll find the way that Rudy Giuliani tackles the issue to be right down your alley.

A More Charismatic Version of Arlen Specter

Rudy Giuliani may have many fine qualities, but he is not a conservative, nor has he always been a loyal Republican.

For example, back in the mid-nineties, when he was actually running New York City, Rudy could have fairly been said to have governed as a moderate at best and to the left-of-center at worst:

* "The National Journal’s rating system put him at 56 percent conservative and 44 percent liberal on economic issues in 1996 and assessed him as liberal by 59 to 40 percent in looking at his social issues votes."

The New York Observer also had a very interesting selection of quotes from and about Rudy over the years that may give his conservative supporters more than a little pause. Here are a few of those quotations:

* Some ask, How can the Liberal Party support a candidate who disagrees with the Liberal Party position on so many gut issues? But when the Liberal Party Policy Committee reviewed a list of key social issues of deep concern to progressive New Yorkers, we found that Rudy Giuliani agreed with the Liberal Party's stance on a majority of such issues. He agreed with the Liberal Party's views on affirmative action, gay rights, gun control, school prayer and tuition tax credits. As Mayor, Rudy Giuliani would uphold the Constitutional and legal rights to abortion. -- N.Y.S. Liberal Party Endorsement Statement of R. Giuliani for Mayor of New York City April 8, 1989

* Mr. Rockefeller represented "a tradition in the Republican Party I've worked hard to re-kindle - the Rockefeller, Javits, Lefkowitz tradition." -- Rudy Giuliani, New York Times, July 9, 1992

* What kind of Republican? Is [Giuliani], for instance, a Reagan Republican? [Giuliani] pauses before answering: "I'm a Republican." -- Village Voice, January 24, 1989

* "Shortly before his last-minute endorsement of Bob Dole in the 1996 presidential election, [Giuliani] told the Post's Jack Newfield that "most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." The Daily News quoted [Giuliani] as saying that March: "Whether you talk about President Clinton, Senator Dole.... The country would be in very good hands in the hands of any of that group."

* Revealing at one point that he was "open" to the idea of endorsing Clinton, he explained: "When I ran for mayor both times, '89 and '93, I promised people that I would be, if not bipartisan, at least open to the possibility of supporting Democrats." -- Rudy - An Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani, Wayne Barrett, Page 459

* "From my point of view as the mayor of New York City, the question that I have to ask is, 'Who has the best chance in the next four years of successfully fighting for our interest? Who understands them, and who will make the best case for it?' Our future, our destiny is not a matter of chance. It's a matter of choice. My choice is Mario Cuomo." -- Rudy Giuliani: Emperor of the City, Andrew Kirtzman, Page 133

* "[Quite] frankly, you have to understand the fact that Rudy Giuliani was a McGovern Democrat, he was endorsed by the Liberal Party when he ran for Mayor. In his heart, he's a Democrat. He's paraded all over this country with Bill Clinton and, in fact, he's very comfortable with Mario Cuomo. But what Rudy Giuliani wants is to be bailed out in the city, in the mess he's in, and everybody understands very clearly in politics that they struck a deal, that Mario's going to continue to be the big spender, save Rudy the options of raising taxes by pouring money statewide into the City of New York and bailing it out. Quite frankly, I predict that he will join the Democratic Party." -- Interview with Michael Long, Chairman N.Y.S., Conservative Party, CNN Crossfire, October 25, 1994

Does this really sound like the sort of candidate we want as a standard bearer for the Republican Party?

He Can't Keep His Pants Up

There has only been one man who has ever made it to the White House after being divorced and that was Ronald Reagan, who had been married to Nancy for more than 25 years before his campaign in 1980. Rudy, on the other hand, is on his third wife.

Furthermore, his second divorce from Donna Hanover was extremely ugly. Hanover accused Rudy of "open and notorious adultery." She also claimed Rudy had an affair with a staffer, Christyne Lategano-Nicholas, which both Giuliani and Lategano-Nicholas denied. However, Rudy has acknowledged that he started seeing his current wife, Judith Nathan, before his divorce from Hanover was finalized in 2002.

Given how recent this divorce was, Rudy's adultery, and the fact that he married, "the other woman," the press can be expected to cover Rudy's marriage to Hanover exhaustively if he gets the nomination and needless to say, Rudy, quite deservedly, will not come off very well.

Does He Have The Judgment To Be President?

As you've just seen, Rudy hasn't necessarily made the best decisions in his personal life. Unfortunately, the Bernard Kerik incident shows that Giuliani's poor judgment can spill over into political matters as well.

Rudy recommended his friend and business partner, Bernard Kerik, for the position of Homeland Security Secretary and the Bush administration, perhaps because Rudy vouched for him, didn't do a very thorough job of vetting him.

Soon after Kerik's nomination became public, allegations surfaced that Kerik was having two simultaneous affairs, had ties to a construction company "linked to the mob," and had an illegal alien nanny whose taxes hadn't been paid. Under fire from the press, Kerik withdrew his name from consideration for the Homeland Security position and the Bush administration was left with egg on its face for putting up such a scandal ridden nominee.

While the whole debacle was embarrassing for the Bush Administration, it raised even more serious questions about Rudy. After all, if Bernard Kerik is the sort of person Rudy sees as an appropriate friend, business partner, and nominee to run the Homeland Security Department, it makes you wonder what kind of people he is surrounding himself with on a day to day basis.

How Electable Is Rudy Giuliani Really?

One of the biggest selling points for Rudy Giuliani is supposed to be that he's "electable" because a lot of independents and Democrats will vote for him. The problem with that sort of thinking is that if he becomes the Republican nominee, the very liberal mainstream media will spend nine months relentlessly savaging him in an effort to help the Democrats. Because of that, Giuliani's sky high polling numbers with non-Republicans are 100% guaranteed to drop significantly before election time rolls around in 2008.

That is not necessarily a problem; after all the mainstream media is always against the Republican nominee, if -- and this is a big "if" -- the GOP nominee has strong support from the Republican base.

The big problem Rudy has is that he isn't going to be able to generate that kind of support. For one thing, as a candidate, he offers almost nothing to social conservatives, without whom a victory for George Bush in 2004 wouldn't have been possible. If the choice in 2008 comes down to a Democrat and a pro-abortion, soft on gay marriage, left-of-center candidate on social issues -- like Rudy -- you can be sure that millions of "moral values voters" will simply stay home and cost the GOP the election.

The other issue is in the South. George Bush swept every Southern state in 2000 and 2004, which is quite an impressive feat when you consider that the Democrats had Southerner Al Gore at the top of the ticket in 2000 and John Edwards as the veep in 2004. Unfortunately, a pro-abortion, soft on gay marriage, pro-gun control RINO from New York City just isn't going to be able to repeat that performance. Even against a carpetbagger like Hillary Clinton, it's entirely likely that you'll see at least 2 or 3 states in the South turn from red to blue if Rudy Giuliani is the nominee.

Also, the reason why George Bush's approval numbers have been mired in the high thirties/low forties of late is because he has lost a significant amount of Republican support, primarily because his domestic policies aren't considered conservative enough. Since that's the case, running a candidate who is several steps to Bush's left on domestic policy certainly doesn't seem like a great way to unite the base again.

Conclusion

Despite all of his charisma and the wonderful leadership he showed after 9/11, Rudy Giuliani is not a Reagan Republican. To the contrary, Giuliani is another Christie Todd Whitman, another Arlen Specter, another Olympia Snowe. He's a throwback to the "bad old days" before Reagan, when the GOP was run by moderate Country Club Republicans who considered conservatives to be extremists. Trying to revive that failed strategy again is likely to lead to a Democratic President in 2008 and numerous setbacks for the Republican Party.

[Reagan Man]

ping

[stm]

I'll see your ping and raise you another ping!

[MikeA]

I guess now that trashing McCain has worn itself out, it's on to trashing Guiliani. I guess people won't be happy until they've nominated Foot in the Mouth Allen so we can spend all of 2008 defending his "macaca" slip up...if he even ends up surviving his Senate race now. Good job guys.

[mhx]

Bush's proposal to rewrite the Constitution

What?

[SDGOP]

DON YOUR FLAME SUIT!!!!

[romanesq]

You have to know what New York City was like until Giuliani came on the scene to fully appreciate his common sense approach to government.

He is far and away the better choice to most candidates on both sides.

[midnightcat]

true. NYC was a disaster until he came on board.

[monkeywrench]

It'd probably be easier defending Allen's "macaca" slip than the positions of liberal rudy. He has so much baggage. Alot we probably haven't even heard about, yet.

[churchillbuff]

his phenomenal performance after 9/11 was much appreciated."""

I know he appeared on TV a lot and said uplifting things. What else did he do after 9/11 that was "phenomenal"? Anybody .... anybody ... ?

[Reagan Man]

You want a hardcore northeast liberal to be the nominee for the GOP in 2008? Not me!

Conservatives shouldn't be supporting left of center candidates. Lets get a few solid conservative candidates in the mix and see what happens. There is still 16 months till the primary season starts and over two years till the general election. Long road ahead. No time to be ramming a liberal politico down the throats of the party faithful.

[romanesq]

A disaster doesn't even begin to describe how NYC was before the Mayor took a bulldozer to the existing political landscape of corruption and appeasement and liberal theology.

It was piled very high and he came in and crushed it. You could hardly believe it as it was happening. Statistics don't even begin to tell the story.

What happened to the idling groups of crimminals "patrolling" corners awaiting their next victims, threatening solicitations, rampant drug selling in all neighborhoods, etc.

It was just an amazing turnabout. He and his folks deserve a ton of credit.

[stm]

"One of the biggest selling points for Rudy Giuliani is supposed to be that he's "electable" because a lot of independents and Democrats will vote for him. The problem with that sort of thinking is that if he becomes the Republican nominee, the very liberal mainstream media will spend nine months relentlessly savaging him in an effort to help the Democrats. Because of that, Giuliani's sky high polling numbers with non-Republicans are 100% guaranteed to drop significantly before election time rolls around in 2008. "

This is the very reason why so many people have become do disenchanted with politics and liberal mainstream media.

[BaBaStooey]

Here is the reason why I wont be voting for Rudy:

+

Next candidate, please

[Jake The Goose]

Look at FreeRepublics own poll. Rudy is by far the leader of the pack right now. For a simple reason - he is a leader.

[Prokopton]

"I guess now that trashing McCain has worn itself out, it's on to trashing Guiliani."


I find it amusing that merely revealing a politicians stances on issues, and many of the revelations made by direct quotes, is seen by the liberal wing of the Republican party as "trashing".
It all seems so, well, LIBERAL.

[Jake The Goose]

If Romney, McCain, and Giuliani were the only names on the ballot for the GOP 2008 nomination, whom would you vote for?

Giuliani
45.8%

Romney
28.3%

Sit it out
21.1%

McCain (who cares)

[stm]

You can thank Ed Koch and David Dinkins for that. Rudy really did take out the garbage.

[mhx]

The rest of the country isn't a crime disaster now like NYC was then. Why hire a guy with the wrong expertise? What does he know about foreign policy or economics? Not to mention that he disagrees with the Republican party on some large percentage of the important issues.

There are lots of real conservatives out there. If we keep running away from them, you can bet they'll never get elected.

[mkjessup]

I'm reminded of that famous "11th Commandment" of Ronald Reagan which was "Do not speak ill of a fellow Republican", and while that quaint notion may have passed by the wayside with the plethora of RINOs and pretenders in the GOP, the bottom line is that if America is given a choice between Rudy and Senator Mrs. Bill Clinton, there is no question who (hopefully) they're going to pull the lever for.

Unless the purists and self appointed "keepers of the conservative flame" decide that it's better to sit out the '08 election and let the 'Rats win it by default, we will hopefully have an electorate that will be pragmatic on Election Day, even if we who are right of center (and believe me, I'm so far right I have to keep adjusting my side view mirrors) will realize that even a (gag) "centrist" Republican is infinitely preferable to ANY Democrat, unless that Democrat was somebody like Zell Miller, and I think he's probably the last of his kind.

[Prokopton]

"Rudy is by far the leader of the pack right now. For a simple reason - he is a leader."

Do you think conservatives want to be led down the road of liberalism? There are lots of "leaders". We need to find a leader who will lead in the "right" direction.

[dljordan]

"I guess now that trashing McCain has worn itself out, it's on to trashing Guiliani."

If you read the article and still believe that Rudy is a good conservative candidate you deserve him as your president.

[Jake The Goose]

Leaders don't poll - they lead - you choose to follow, lead yourself - or watch the rest of us.

[GodBlessUSA]

Absolutely. I worked in NYC during Dinkins, it was scary and disgusting in NYC. Then Rudy. Before Rudy, I saw someone get arrested for Crack on the street near I work. Young and old people sitting in their own urine on 5th ave. I never felt safe walking to Penn at dark. Come in Rudy and made that city awesome. Just incredible. If someone did not see this, they could never believe the difference.

I do not agree with his social issues but if he's the only man who can win, he will be strong with our National Security. I'm voting for him. I fear the worse with lack of Troops support and terrorism attacks with a liberal winning. Common sense dictates.

[Jake The Goose]

You base you selection on a President on abortion alone?

Please tell me that's not true.

[fatnotlazy]

Thank you for posting all this. Really good to know as much as we can about the candidates -- where they stand on issues and so forth.

That said, I think we are going to be hard pressed to find a candidate who will have the qualities we need AND share our beliefs on issues such as abortion and homosexuality. Somewhere along the line, when choosing a candidate, we are going to have sacrifice something. None of the prospective candidates (both parties) is particularly appealing to me 100%. Seems they all have something I don't like. At this point, I don't know who I would vote for if the election were held today. It could be that Giuliani may still wind up being the best of the crop. And given the crop out there, that may not be saying much.

[noname07718]

I'll tell you what he knows about foreign policy. He essentially placed Yassar Arafat under house arrest when he was i NYC for the UN speech. The howl from the State Department and the Clintoon administration was loud enough to prove that Rudy was correct in his actions.

[linda_22003]

I'll bet a lot of people do.

[tiredoflaundry]

[Jake The Goose]

That's a very very scary thought.

[romanesq]

It's great to have another New York cite their personal experience from the time of David Dinky to Rudy. It's literally the transformation of a cesspool with no hope into the Reagan vision of a city on the hill.

Stats can point to the 1 million people on welfare and that transformation to I believe 400K today but the numbers don't tell the full story.

People need to understand that certain social issues will not be decided at the Executive level but at the state. Supreme Court may one day kick abortion back to the states, etc., but one should not be dissuaded from voting for Rudy as a result. In fact that would be a reason to vote for him as he would not be a central player at all on this and other social issues.

I don't believe he would kill the 2nd Amendment either.

[Deb]

The writer's first sentence is bogus. The press and media have been conducting a slow, steady campaign against Rudy. There are books and even an anti-Rudy documentary due out soon.

I'm a Mitt Romney fan, but I would throw out any statement made by Rudy before 9/11. I believe he was transformed.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>Look at FreeRepublics own poll.

There have been a whole lot of polls on Free Republic this year. The current one is the most hypothetical poll I've seen so far. We're over two years out from the general election and such a poll is worthless as tits on a bull. I'll bet many FReepers don't even know Giuliani's politics on some of the critical issues of concern to conservatives.

You and several other FReepers are spending a great deal of your time on rightwing Free Republic attempting to ram a liberal politico down the throats of conservatives. Instead of working to get a liberal as the GOP nominee in 2008, why not work to get a Republican who will advance the conservative agenda for America.

Rudy Giuliani doesn't even come close to being a moderate politician, let alone a conservative. Giuliani is a liberal to his core beliefs. John Hawkins does a good job of revealing Giuliani's liberalism in his article.

[bigfootbob]

As a conservative, I cannot argue your points.

Giuliani is not who I'd prefer, but look at who's running...He's head and shoulders above the pack.

[Dreagon]

I would vote Democrat before I would vote for Guiliani, just because if a liberal has to win I would prefer it be a Democrat. No Republican liberals allowed.

[Jake The Goose]

Nice try.

Rudy runs circles around the rest of the Republican field - only one man can debate with Rudy and that's Newt - and Newt will never ever win a popular election.

Your knowledge of Rudy is based not on his words - but the words of others.

Better get used to the idea of Rudy as the republican nominee, or you can say you'll sit out - like many do.

[jonrick46]

The "macaca" word has use in several languages. Does anyone, for instance, know the meaning of the word as used in the Philippines?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Great post. Wish the Rudybots would find someone else to worship.

[Marius3188]

The rules for being president these days are:
1)Be over 6ft tall
2)Have a full head of hair
3)Must have 1 and 2

[linda_22003]

I agree with you!

[Spiff]

Thanks for the ping.

And let me add this gasoline to the fire:

Rudy Giuliani:

• Pro-abortion - even opposed banning partial birth murder.
• Anti-2nd Amendment - supports gun grabbing legislation
• Pro-big government - amassed unprecedented debt as Mayor of NYC
• Pro-radical gay agenda
  

  - Supports gay marriage
  - Attended every gay pride parade in NYC while mayor (even one in 1992 that included a NAMBLA contingent of pedophile activists)
  - Has received many awards from radical gay groups
  - Attends and supports many functions and fund-raisers held by radical gay organizations (even did a cross dressing act at Pride Agenda fund-raiser)

• Pro-illegal immigration - said no one in New York City is going to assist the federal government with the enforcement of immigration law, sued Feds in 1997 to be able to ignore immigration law, lost in court, vowed to ignore law anyway
• Endorses liberal Democrat candidates over Republicans - endorsed liberal Dem Mario Cuomo over Republican George Pataki in NY Governor's race
• Ran for NYC Mayor in 1994 on Liberal Party ticket. Appointed Liberal Party State Chair to a Deputy Mayor position. Endorsed 3 times by the Liberal Party for his liberal views.
• Holds many other liberal views
• Republican In Name Only - opposes many major planks of the GOP Platform

Read more about Giuliani's liberal positions here.

Some people want Republicans to ignore his liberalism on almost every issue and, as a distraction, they try to pretend that Rudy is fiscally conservative. Again, his record shows that he isn't fiscally conservative either:

According to an article in The Nation from 2002:

It's now apparent that Giuliani purchased the city's good times partially with borrowed money and left his successor, Mike Bloomberg, holding a bag of debt. New York City went from a $3 billion budget surplus in 1998 to a $4.5 billion deficit after Giuliani left office. This mismanagement of prosperity is a big part of his legacy. Giuliani left the city's finances in a mess...

Here are some things Giuliani did as Mayor that were NOT anywhere near being fiscally conservative:

• New York City went from a $3 billion budget surplus in 1998 to a $4.5 billion deficit after Giuliani left office.
  
• Added 25,000 government employees patronage hires to the city's payroll after promising to cut the work force.
  
• Giuliani's borrowing practices increased the city's debt burden by 50 percent.
  
• Partly because of Giuliani, New York City is now the biggest debtor in the nation outside of the federal government with $42 billion in loans outstanding.
  

According to the article from The Nation:

During the 1960s Giuliani was a self-described "Robert Kennedy Democrat." He identified with RFK as a liberal Catholic prosecutor. He volunteered for RFK's 1968 presidential campaign while he was a student at NYU Law School. Giuliani also voted for George McGovern in 1972. During the liberal 1960s, he was a liberal.

But in 1975 Giuliani switched his party registration from Democrat to Independent when he got a job in Gerald Ford's Justice Department, according to his mentor Harold "Ace" Tyler.

On December 8, 1980, Giuliani changed his registration from Independent to Republican. This was one month after Ronald Reagan's election, and just as he was applying for a top job in the Justice Department.

So, to sum that up:

• Liberal Democrat until 1975
• Worked as volunteer for Democrat Robert F. Kennedy's presidential campaign.
• Voted for liberal George McGovern.
• Liberal Independent from 1975-1980.
• Did not register as a Republican until 1980 and only AFTER Ronald Reagan was elected and because he was applying for a top job in the administration.

He's a liberal. He's not even in the same building as conservative. He's only a Republican because...and this comes from his own mother, Helen Giuliani:

"He only became a Republican after he began to get all these jobs from them. He's definitely not a conservative Republican. He thinks he is, but he isn't. He still feels very sorry for the poor."

[Deb]

He also tried to shut down that disgusting, anti-Catholic art exhibit with the elephant dung and vaginas (something never reported) surrounding the Virgin Mary. He was over-ruled by his own city council.

[Jake The Goose]

Rudy kicked Arafat out of Carnegie Hall. Told him he wasn't invited and had him escorted out.

Rudy ignored the race hustlers, cleaned up their neighborhoods and they still despise him. Got the drug dealers and street pedlars out of the streets in front of their business, they still hate him. He did the right thing with no regard for ratings.

Rudy told the arab sheik to stuff his money after 9/11.

Rudy did what he wanted to do. GOOD FOR HIM

The media in their effort to downplay the President's leadership following 9/11 heaped praise on Rudy. Put him on the cover of Time...Man of the Year.

John McCrazy called him America's Mayor. Hah, now McCain is going to have to beat Rudy at the polls. Ha ha ha ha

[garv]

If a candidate cannot arrive at the correct position on abortion there is very little to indicate he will reach the correct position on most others.

Read the article, Rudy is on the wrong side of abortion, including partial-birth abortion which 80% of the population wants banned, gay marriage, gun rights, and immigration. What kind of judicial appointments should we expect? What has Rudy ever done that would demonstrate an ability to lead on a national level?

He did a nice job with cleaning up NYC and showing leadership in a crisis. So what? So did Haley Barbour and he's right on the issues too.

[linda_22003]

And voting on that basis is even dumber than being a one-issue voter.

[Jake The Goose]

Good luck to you.

Remember to go outside once in a while.

[Sabramerican]

You can console yourself the day after Election Day that the President- elect may not be as Conservative on the social issues as you would like but he is a highly competent successful Republican, who will be good on fiscal and many many other issues, will by necessity need to move right for the support of his Party in Congress, and the Nation will be secure under his watch- which should be your number one issue.

Or you can have a Democrat President -elect who will work against all Conservative issues and in addition will not secure the Nation.

That is your choice in 2008 when a there is no Social Conservative candidate who has a shot in hell of winning.

[ElkGroveDan]

Folks, this stuff is far worse than the complaints we leveled about big dumb Arnold when he was running. His policies now put him to the left of 99% of Republicans and about 40% of Democrats. I can't imagine how bad Giuliani can get.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>>I'm reminded of that famous "11th Commandment" of Ronald Reagan...

I keep telling people that Ronald Reagan did not create the phrase, 11th Commandment. Instead it came about during his 1966 run for the California Governorship.

"The personal attacks against me during the primary finally became so heavy that the state Republican chairman, Gaylord Parkinson, postulated what he called the Eleventh Commandment: Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican. It's a rule I followed during that campaign and have ever since."

Reagan actually broke his own rule when he ran against PresFord for the GOP nomination in 1976. Reagan criticized Ford during the entire primary season, right up through and including the GOP convention. Reagan was a true gentleman and he wanted everyone to like him, and vote for him. However, when the chips were on the table, Reagan was a tough SOB. Ford found out how tough Reagan was in 1976 campaign,just as George Bush found out how tough Reagan was in the 1980 campaign for Prez. Politics isn't for the thin skinned, or the faint of heart. If Giuliani wants to be POTUS, he's gonna have to fight for it.

[Jake The Goose]

My goodness - so I guess we can count on your to stay and home and watch TV on election day?