Giuliani's Pre-9/11 Record Should Erase Rightest Doubts

Hunan Events ^ | 3/16/07 | Deroy Murdock

[areafiftyone]

The same Beltway experts who declared Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) the GOP frontrunner, even as he under-polled fellow presidential contender Rudolph W. Giuliani, now parrot equally dodgy concepts. When Republicans meet “the real Rudy,” they will abandon New York’s former mayor like cattle fleeing a burning barn. Then, the wobbly Washington wisdom continues, Giuliani’s three marriages, and his less-than-solidly right-wing views on gays, guns, and gametes will torpedo his buoyant presidential hopes.

These seers now detect unhappiness with the GOP aspirants. They cite a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll in which 26% of Republican primary voters were dissatisfied with Giuliani, McCain, and former Massachusetts governor Willard Mitt Romney, among others. However, 56% called these choices satisfactory. This mirrors the 57%of conservative Republicans who preferred Giuliani, versus 31% for McCain. More broadly, Republicans backed Giuliani 38% to McCain’s 24, former House speaker Newt Gingrich’s 10, Romney’s 8, and 2% each for Kansas Senator Sam Brownback and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

But what if voters like Giuliani better upon understanding his pre-9-11 performance? Educating Republicans on his complete mayoral record -- and soon -- may be Giuliani’s best bet for extinguishing lingering grumbling about his candidacy.

I recently visited Baltimore, Charlotte, Richmond, Salem, Oregon; Seattle, and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, mainly to deliver speeches sponsored by Young America’s Foundation. I conversed with conservative activists, College Republican leaders, university professors, and think-tank scholars, among others.

These Americans vividly remember Giuliani emerging from the ashes of September 11, like a latter-day Churchill rising from the rubble of the London Blitz. However, these involved and informed citizens knew startlingly little about Giuliani’s other mayoral achievements:

• Through robust policing, Giuliani drove overall crime down 56.1%, while chopping homicides 66.6%, from 1,946 in 1993 to 649 in 2001.

• Following national trends, abortions on Giuliani’s watch dropped 16.9%, while taxpayer-funded Medicaid abortions plunged 23%.

• Gotham’s foster-care population fell 38% as Giuliani helped loving families adopt 17,804 boys and girls.

• By fighting fraud and finding work for legitimate beneficiaries, Giuliani cut welfare rolls 58%, starting two years before federal welfare reform. Giuliani renamed welfare offices “Job Centers.”

• Giuliani privatized 23,625 previously confiscated, city-owned dwellings, 78% of supply, benefiting family and individual homeowners and tenants.

• Giuliani dumped Gotham’s 20% set-aside and 10% overbid bonus for minority and female contractors. “The whole idea of quotas to me perpetuates discrimination,” he explained. He initiated this on his 24th day in office, far exceeding any colorblindness legislation Congress even debated during the 12-year “Republican Revolution.”

• Giuliani’s $10 million Charter School Improvement Fund helped 3,286 pupils in 17 new charter schools, up from $0 and zero campuses in 1997. He ended tenure for school principals, so slackers could be sacked. He also stopped social promotion; students needed to complete grade-level work to matriculate.

• Ex-pornography mecca Times Square now welcomes families, tourists, and locals for fully clothed musicals like “The Lion King” and “Mary Poppins.”

Beyond these socially conservative victories, Giuliani governed as a Reaganesque supply-sider:

• Giuliani scrapped three taxes and slashed 20 others, lowering Gotham’s tax burden by 17% and saving individual and business taxpayers $9.8 billion.

• While inflation averaged 3.9%, Giuliani’s average spending grew 2.9% annually. If the departed GOP Congress were that fiscally disciplined, the next federal budget would be $2.275 trillion -- $625 billion cheaper than proposed.

• While hiring 12% more cops and 12.8% more teachers, Giuliani sliced other positions 17.2%. Overall, municipal headcount fell 3.1%.

Rudy got this done thanks largely to a management style that he described Wednesday at a $2 million Manhattan fundraiser: “I’m impatient and single-minded about my goals.”

Giuliani’s legacy has earned the endorsements of such screaming liberals as President Bush’s former solicitor general, Ted Olson, Sen. David Vitter (R.-La.), and Rep. Pete Sessions (R.-Tex.) -- both proud owners of 100% ratings from the National Right to Life Committee.

Before Giuliani’s enemies caricature him as a divorce-driven, abortion-peddling, gun-grabbing transvestite, he should familiarize Republicans with his mayoral accomplishments. From Westwood to Washington’s echo chamber, Rudy Giuliani and his supporters should specify how he rescued America’s largest left-wing city through Reaganite social and economic reforms.

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Mr. Murdock, a New York-based commentator to HUMAN EVENTS, is a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service and a media fellow with the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace at Stanford University.

[FairOpinion]

Don't worry about it -- it's not like the same article was posted multiple times within five minutes, or a very short time from each other, which is the only thing the Mods are concerned about.

[flashbunny]

"Before Giuliani’s enemies caricature him as a divorce-driven, abortion-peddling, gun-grabbing transvestite,"

Guess what Deroy, Rudy has already done that by himself. Can't hide the truth.

[noname07718]

Should we add to the list the well known pre-9/11 leadership qualities that both of us have listed numerous times on this site?

o The not granting and audience to the blowhard Al Sharpton
o The confining of Yassar Arafat to his Embassy for the duration of his visit to the UN
o The Refusing to attend the same dinner as Fidel Castro
o The telling of the Saudi Sheik to shove his $20M after 9/11

Seems like a pretty strong pattern of leadership that would suit us well in the WOT. In all of these non politically correct actions that should be red meat to a hyena The Liberals when they did raise the objection, it was only a token effort. They knew he had a backbone and they were cowards.

[LtdGovt]

If he gets elected with the help of social conservatives, they will have some say in his administration, perhaps stopping a Harriet Miers type nomination. If the social conservatives bail, he can just ignore them like Ahnold has in California and rule as a social liberal,

Exactly.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Agreed.

[FairOpinion]

"It's up to them, really. The religious right has so marginalized themselves politically at this point they cannot stop a Giuliani nomination or presidency. The only question left is whether they want to have any influence at all."


Exactly!

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Conservatives who are attacking Rudy unwittingly are helping the Dems and smoothing the way for a Hillary or Obama presidency, because Rudy is the only one beating the Dems.

Stop telling lies...

[arthurus]

This right-winger has never had any doubts about Mr. Giuliani. He has been openly an enthusiastically left-wing pol with lousy morals and home life who was an effective mayor of a left wing city.

[FairOpinion]

But actually Rudy is leading among the "religious right" also -- there are only a few loud people who still don't get it.

Churchgoers less likely to support Giuliani (but he is LEADING among them too)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1801804/posts

Although the former New York mayor leads U.S. Sen. John McCain among all categories, his lead is only seven points (31-24) among weekly churchgoers, compared to 28 points (47-19) among those who attend church nearly weekly or monthly, and 27 points (49-22) among those who seldom or never attend church.

[FairOpinion]

Giuliani Leads Hillary, Obama in 2008 Race

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1801785/posts


This is why the Dems want to see "anyone but Rudy" as the Republican nominee, because they can BEAT anyone but Rudy.

And let me repeat: Conservatives who are attacking Rudy unwittingly are helping the Dems and smoothing the way for a Hillary or Obama presidency, because Rudy is the only one beating the Dems.

[FreeInWV]

A friend of mine used to tell me that you can't polish a turd. But Murdock sure gives it a good college try.

[CharlesWayneCT]

My concerns are not the moderator concerns.

If our desire at FR is to have a serious discussion of the issues raised about our candidates in the media, posting the same articles multiple times over consecutive days is not the way to do it. Nobody can afford the time to read them again and again, and the wisdom from the previous posting is lost on the people reading the newer one.

If you must note that the same article got printed another day, just post it with a link to the previous discussion.

It's not hard to search the database, especially if people would use a little bit of common sense on the keywords (the ony article "Meet the real Rudy" didn't have GIULIANIE as a keyword, for example).

Note that when an "excerpt" article is posted multiple times with different excerpts, we could be violating the consent agreement, something I believe the moderators are keenly interested in.

[LtdGovt]

Human garbage, turd, Julie-Annie, NAMBLA-supporter, whatever slur you want to use to attack Rudy, bring it on!

[FairOpinion]

You post the SAME things on ANY thread, so it's totally irrelevant what the article actually says.

Stop being so hypocritical.

Nobody forces you to post, so skip the second posting of the article and go cheerlead the "conservativs for Hillary section".

[THEUPMAN]

IF Rudy gets the nod the battle is lost.
The general election won't mean a thing.

Rudy? Hillery? Obama? dosn't matter .....
Our only hope is to find a conservative who can make it through the primaries.

I won't vote for anyone ... EVER .... who is willing to permit partial birth abortions.
That just says to much about a mans soul.

and that is just the first issue in a long list that rudy is on the wrong side of.

[massadvj]

Intereting stats. Thanks for sharing them.

[Beagle8U]

" Educating Republicans on his complete mayoral record -- and soon -- may be Giuliani’s best bet for extinguishing lingering grumbling about his candidacy."

If Delroy wants people to be educated on Rudy's record as mayor why do the Rudybots scream every time an article is posted about things he did in office?

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

Stop telling lies. Nobody can predict the future.

[YellowRoseofTx]

Exactly

[SJSAMPLE]

Don't worry.
The Rudy Rooters assure me that;
1. This is OLD news.
2. Even though Rudy's own words and policies support these concerns, he certainly wouldn't govern the entire country with that agenda.
3. "But, but, he was MEAN to Arafat!!! (and everybody marches in the Gay Pride parade).