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McCain Starts Planning for 2008 Run
AOL NEWS ^ | NOVEMBER 10, 2006 | LIZ SIDOTI

Posted on 11/10/2006 10:19:40 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Sen. John McCain, considered the front-runner for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, intends to launch an exploratory committee next week, party officials said Friday.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting a public statement from the four-term Arizona senator.

McCain, the Republican maverick who unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination in 2000, already has opened a bank account for the committee, officials said.

"The senator has made no decision about running for president," said Eileen McMenamin, a McCain spokeswoman.

Aides to McCain say the senator will discuss a presidential bid with his family over the end-of-the-year Christmas holiday.

McCain, 70, is a former U.S. Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He was elected to the Senate in 1986, and served in the House of Representatives for four years before that.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.aol.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Extended News; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: captainqueeg; election2008; hillaryclinton; johnmccain; keating5; mccain; presidency; rino; stopmccain08; whitehouse
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I gather his platform is: (1) send more troops to Iraq, and (2) amnesty all the illegals. Not a winner in my book.


141 posted on 11/11/2006 5:25:14 AM PST by Malesherbes
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
I won't vote for him. Period.

Another thread running is "Dems Turnout Higher Than GOP For First Time Since 1990". If mclame is the candidate, the turnout for pubbies will be even less than this year.

142 posted on 11/11/2006 5:28:14 AM PST by mombonn (God is looking for spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I will be shocked if McCain lives until 2012. His health is much worse than people realize.


143 posted on 11/11/2006 5:31:16 AM PST by montag813
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I think we need to start a thread to show that we don't want McCain.

He is pro amnesty. He is a bs artist when he tries to sell that earned manesty is not amnesty.


McCain is a dangerous RINO.

He has already made up his mind to run, the MSM has already made up their mind that he is a Hitlary clone enough for them to support.

The only difference between McCain and Hitlary is one of them has testicles. (not McCain.)


144 posted on 11/11/2006 5:49:12 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: nyconse

McCain is delusional.

However the Christine Whtiless, the Liddy Dole beltway diseased elites will have no problem with him.

Age is not a issue. Not like it used to be.

He is not conservative enough to be a RINO.

He is pro homosesexual marriage, he just does not care about the issue.

He is pro tax manipulation to push mandates.

He is too much pro-governemnt.

Did he vote for the AWB?

We need a conservative now.

Newt needs to be Teacher in Chief.

We are not getting leadership from anywhere else in the party. I hope steele and Newt talk.


145 posted on 11/11/2006 5:56:25 AM PST by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: dc-zoo
I'd rather vote for Rudy.

Why? Rudy is much, much worse. More liberal on everything from taxes to judges, to gun-rights, gay marriage and abortion. Conservatives supporting Giuliani are letting their emotions get the better of them.



The Real Rudy Giuliani:

From Human Events:

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.

146 posted on 11/11/2006 6:00:27 AM PST by NapkinUser (Tom Tancredo for president of the United States of America in 2008!)
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To: proud_yank
Really? I never knew that, does that stop him from running in 2008?

No. The Constitution only requires one to be a "natural born citizen". There is no requirement to born in the United States if by birth one has US citizenship. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona before it was a state, but that didn't stop him from running for president in 1964.

147 posted on 11/11/2006 6:07:10 AM PST by Paleo Conservative
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To: Jacquerie; babygene

I have a feeling McCain will be the 3rd Party choice by the time the election rolls around.


148 posted on 11/11/2006 7:20:48 AM PST by RatsDawg
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I like this assessment of McCain better:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/HughHewitt/2006/11/08/the_road_not_taken__forfeiting_a_majority


149 posted on 11/11/2006 7:22:11 AM PST by CyberAnt (Drive-By Media: Fake news, fake documents, fake polls)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

How about Lincoln Chafee 08? NO RINOS


150 posted on 11/11/2006 7:22:14 AM PST by omega4179 (NO RINOS 2008)
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To: redgirlinabluestate

I have been watching him for several years and am on the Massatuchetts Resistance list.

What he says and what he does are two different things. I believe that if gets the nomination and wins he will be the Republican version of Jimmy Carter.


151 posted on 11/11/2006 7:57:15 AM PST by Valpal1 (Big Media is like Barney Fife with a gun.)
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To: NapkinUser
I doubt Rudy Giuliani can win enough primaries to secure the GOP nomination. As your post indicates, Giuliani is a liberal on most issues and his true politics are not in sync with the vast majority of conservatives. Most conservatives will just not vote for RudyG. Giuliani even makes McCain look like a staunch conservative. If Giuliani was somehow nominated by the GOP, he would fracture the party and open the door to a Democrat Prez. A liberal like Giuliani in the Oval Office would further undermine conservatism and whats left of the Reagan conservative agenda. Giulaini is the wrong candidate. No thanks.
152 posted on 11/11/2006 8:18:49 AM PST by Reagan Man (Conservatives don't support amnesty and conservatives don't vote for liberals!)
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To: Reagan Man

How do we sabotage McCain and Giuliani at the same time when the MSM is pushing only Rinos? We are already looking at a choice betwee garbage and rubbish for 2008.


153 posted on 11/11/2006 9:32:27 AM PST by omega4179 (NO RINOS 2008)
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To: omega4179

bump

Remember three words

GANG OF 14


154 posted on 11/11/2006 9:33:31 AM PST by Gillmeister
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To: Valpal1
What he says and what he does are two different things.

Really? Can you provide two or three examples? In March, Romney finished in second place in the Southern Republican Leadership Conference Straw Poll. The event was held in Tennessee and Bill Frist won the poll simply for that reason. However, Romney was the real winner by finishing well ahead of the rest of the field.

http://conservativepresident2008.blogspot.com/2006/10/mitt-romney-2008-nathan-burd-thinks-it.html

155 posted on 11/11/2006 9:38:35 AM PST by redgirlinabluestate (Romney/Hunter 08?)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Another Bob Dole. Yawn.


156 posted on 11/11/2006 10:34:07 AM PST by Racer1
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To: Jim Robinson

I would rather vote for a dog eating his own vomit. Oh, could you make that an option in the poll?


157 posted on 11/11/2006 11:22:50 AM PST by GarySpFc (Jesus on Immigration, John 10:1)
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To: Jim Robinson

How about former General Richard Myers?


158 posted on 11/11/2006 11:52:48 AM PST by GarySpFc (Jesus on Immigration, John 10:1)
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To: Paleo Conservative

Interesting, thanks for the info!


159 posted on 11/11/2006 1:23:39 PM PST by proud_yank (Socialism - An Answer In Search Of A Question For Over 100 Years)
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To: NapkinUser

GREAT POST!


160 posted on 11/11/2006 1:28:53 PM PST by SUSSA
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