Posted on 05/16/2007 6:11:22 AM PDT by GMMAC
Giuliani's words have hollow ring
Presidential hopeful keeps flip-flopping
Steven Edwards, National Post
Published: Wednesday, May 16, 2007
With flip-flopping a sure way to ensure rejection at the polls, what's a presidential candidate to do when his political record clashes with the bedrock beliefs of the party he seeks to represent?
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, is taking on the Republican rank-and-file when he asks them to nominate him despite his refusal to renounce his support for abortion.
He claims this shows he has the courage to state his views frankly, regardless of their popularity.
It's a strategy rooted in the premise that people are tired of nuanced answers from politicians and prefer a straight shooter -- even if they don't entirely agree with him.
In fact, Giuliani is showing less steel than if he had simply declared himself against abortion in line with essential Republican party thinking.
Like many abortion supporters, he reconciles the fact that it involves eliminating a life by saying that while he is opposed to abortion personally, he believes in a woman's right to it as a family planning option.
Of course, it all comes down to weighing the right to life of an unborn child against the right of a woman to make choices about her body.
For abortion supporters, the less developed the life in the womb, the easier it is to deny it rights that override the mother's.
Until ultrasound imaging shows a clear human form, it's easy to forget that something more than cellular fusion has taken place.
By saying he is "personally" against abortion, Giuliani clearly accepts the argument that life begins at conception. He must also believe the extension of that argument -- that the fetus at this stage has the same right to life as any human.
Giuliani is therefore being disingenuous when he recently asked Republicans to "respect" him for "telling? the truth."
If he were truly honest about where he stands, he would admit he seeks a free pass on the abortion issue so that he can pander to abortion supporters.
His message not only falls short of the truth-- which would reflect his convictions -- it contradicts the line promoted by both him and his supporters that his position on abortion is clear and free of variation.
He's on record as saying abortion is an "issue of conscience" and a decision to have one is a matter of "personal choice."
But he has also shown he's indifferent to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion in the United States.
"It would be OK to repeal," he said during the first debate between Republican hopefuls.
"It would be OK if a strict constructionist judge viewed it as precedent," he added, using a conservative-friendly adjective that describes judges who feel obliged to uphold only the specified rights in the U.S. Constitution.
Such wavering is inconsistent with the principles Giuliani champions in his book Leadership, a central one being strong self-definition.
And how can he claim to be adhering to the truth when, in his mind, there are several versions of it on this issue?
Giuliani's brand of Republicanism -- conservative on fiscal and security matters but socially liberal -- was always going to be problematic nationally, though it earned him the maximum two terms as mayor in Democraticleaning New York.
As campaigning continues, he will face increasing questions from the Republican right over his liberal stances on several other issues, such as gay rights and gun control.
There's also his tumultuous domestic life.
He's married to his third wife, and has a difficult relationship with his two children, reportedly because of their dislike for their current stepmother, also in her third marriage.
Opponents of all political stripes will attack him over his former close association with his last police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, who last year pleaded guilty to misdemeanour ethics violations.
Giuliani's bid to take on the Republican party over abortion rights contrasts with the approach of fellow presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, a Mormon.
While Romney declared himself pro-abortion when running for state senator and later governor in heavily Democratic Massachusetts, he has now flipped back to his earlier antiabortion position.
While Giuliani's wavering is far from Romney's credibilitydeficient about-turns, his claim that his determination to stick to his convictions makes him a strong leader rings hollow.
© National Post 2007
Anyone of the lowest Republican candidates plus the possibility of Newt and Fred Thompson are better than any of the current crop of Democrats or possible third party candidates.
As for the abortion problem.
All this talk could be averted if they would just show to high schoolers and college freshmen the video of a real abortion taking place.
I believe that it is so gruesome that most thinking and caring humans would be turned off from ever going to a planned parenthood murder enabling clinic.
LOL! Hey, on second thought, elect Rudy. He can bring home all the troops and send himself to Iraq, winning the war singlehandedly. Yeah, that’s the ticket. : )
Their teachers would never allow it.
(Blush) You’re making it real difficult to stay humble.
No question. Rooty could win the war singlehandedly (glad you thought of it..........LOL).
LOL——so you noticed, eh?
Frankly, can’t think of a single thing I’d want to put there.
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