Posted on 08/23/2007 4:55:47 AM PDT by Josh Painter
Former Tennessee Senator leads the Republican pack in the South Carolina Presidential Primary. The man who has yet to officially enter the race attracts 23% of the vote among Likely Republican Primary Voters. That national frontrunner, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, is close behind at 21%.
The Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Arizona Senator John McCain with 14% of the vote while former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is at 10%. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee earns 6% of the South Carolina vote while four other candidates split 3% and 22% are undecided.
Among the Palmetto States conservative Primary voters, Thompson leads Giuliani by seven. Among the smaller number of moderate and liberal voters, its Giuliani 31%, McCain 21%, and Thompson 13%...
(Excerpt) Read more at rasmussenreports.com ...
Actually I’m surprised Giuliani polls as well as he does in South Carolina. This has got to be causing a lot of ulcers.
The only political commercial I have heard on the radio in the Upstate of SC is Rudy’s
The numbers might be more meaningful in three months, assuming Fred Thompson jumps into the race with both feet. We will then see if the former Tennessee senator will become the 800 pound gorilla in the primaries, or if he will be competing for conservative votes with Romney, Hunter, Tancredo, and Huckabee.
McCain’s stance on the war in Iraq is probably helping him in South Carolina.
You may be right, but with the singular exception of Ron Paul, all of the Republican candidates for their party’s Presidential nomination share similar stances to that of McCain.
It just shows how few people are really paying attention at this time.
It seems to me that Giuliani is merely a Goldwater Conservative, instead of a Pat Robertson Conservative.
I am quite OK with that.
The two “frontruners” getting 1 in 5 voters tells me even those with favorites are still undecided.
This rece will start cooking come 1-1-08
I think once Thompson stops dancing around the ring and jumps in, he’ll take every state in the south.
Uh, no. Goldwater was a champion of the Constitution, privacy, individual liberty and freedom from government intrusion. Giuliani is a secular authoritarian who outright hostile to the US Constitution. The fact that Giuliani does not like the religious right does not make him a libertarian. He abhors personal liberty and does not recognize the constraints placed upon government by the Founding documents.
What this poll shows, more than anything else, is a completely wide-open race.
This rece will start cooking come 1-1-08
Let’s hope so because the primaries are probably going to start a week later. lol.
I’m sorry but I just don’t buy your fever swamp anti-Giuliani rhetoric.
You sound just like a leftist talking about President Bush.
If you want to discuss the issues on their merits, fine.
But this sort of heavy breathing only makes you look bad, not Giuliani.
BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Giuliani banned the New Yorker's ads on public buses because the ads poked fun at him. Even though he is a public figure, he actually tried to claim authority in court over how his name is used. Imagine the precedent that would set if he had won -- public figures would get to control how their names and likenesses are used.
Amendment II: A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Non-renewal of gun permits for law-abiding New Yorkers whom even Dinkins allowed to remain armed; lawsuits against gun manufacturers; pushing national gun liscensing; responding to a terrorist attack during his watch (attack at Empire State Building) by calling for more restrictive gun laws; stating that people should have to demonstrate a good reason to have a gun. He even fought the NY State legalization of defense sprays such as pepper spray.
Amendment III: No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
I know of nothing that Rudy has said or done on this front. It's possible that he supports Amendment III.
Amendment IV: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
He supported unreasonable searches based solely on anonymous tips (and was overturned by the courts). His police force stopped and frisked tens of thousands of people on the streets with no probable cause. His police force instituted a program of strip searches of those merely accused of misdemeanors such as jaywalking. He pushed the NY State legislature to collect the DNA of all newborns.
Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Rudy supports seizure of property from those acquitted of a crime. Rudy repeatedly used eminent domain for the benefit of private developers. It's a big NO on Amendment V.
Amendment VI: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.
Many people whose property he seized in NYC did not receive trials at all; the city later had to return many of the vehicles because the courts ordered immediate hearings and backlog made it impossible to satisfy the ruling. I believe there may also be some problems reconciling Rudy's use of RICO and his support of a more extensive PATRIOT Act with Amendment VI. This requires additional research.
Amendment VII: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Need more research on this one. There may be problems both with property forfeiture and with RICO similar to Amendment VI.
Amendment VIII: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Losing one's property upon being accused of a first offense, even when acquitted, can be considered imposing excessive fines.
Amendment IX: The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
See my tagline. Rudy doesn't believe you have the right to do anything the Constitution doesn't explicitly say you can do (i.e., his understanding is the complete opposite of the way our Founding Documents actually work).
Amendment X: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
His support of federal gun laws are just one example of his antipathy to federalism and states' rights, not to mention individual rights.
OTHER CONSTITUTIONAL PROBLEMS
Article I, Section 10 - Powers prohibited of States: No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
He supported seizure of property belonging to those acquitted of crime, which is the definition of bill of attander.
Article I, Section 8 - Powers of Congress
-snip-
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
-snip-
AND Article 6. - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths: All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
He defied the feds on immigration, even though the Constitution clearly defines anything related to naturalization as a power of the federal government; and anything that is explicitly declard a power of the federal government by the Constitution trumps state and city action via the Supremacy Clause (the Supremacy Clause is greatly abused, but in this case immigration is the lawful responsibility of the feds).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.