Posted on 03/29/2007 11:33:30 AM PDT by M. Thatcher
WHY FORBES ENDORSED GIULIANI
.... [my] readers...likely know that I served as a senior advisor to Steve Forbes from '96 through 2000 through both of his presidential bids....so let's cut to the chase:
Steve is going to take flack from social conservatives, given Rudy's record on life and marriage....still, it's curious to me to see Rudy's enormous post-9/11 appeal among Republican voters -- including staunch conservatives -- despite social positions that would normally send us fleeing....I wrote about this on September 29, 2005, after attending a dinner with Giuliani and meeting him for the first time:
"I'm not endorsing him, mind you. I have serious problems with his pro-abortion and pro-gay rights positions, to say nothing of his messy divorce in office after having an affair with a staffer. But I can't tell you how many conservatives I talked to last night that said, 'Yeah, sure, except for those things he'd be a fantastic president!'
It's hard not to like him. It's hard not to want him to succeed President Bush even if you disagree strongly with him on core issues. Why? Because he's funny. He's smart. He's tough. He's experienced. With the whole country and the whole world watching, he handled every aspect of 9/11 with such courage and compassion, from managing the immediate crisis response to attending funerals for month after month after month. What's more, you get the sense that this guy could really beat Hillary Clinton. And isn't that what the GOP is really looking for?
Accepting a pro-Israel award (and discussing his recent trip to Israel) in front of 500 rank-and-file Republican evangelicals was a shrewd move for Giuliani in light of his presidential aspirations. It gave him a way to identify with conservatives on an issue of great concern -- Israel -- without raising any highly-controversial social issues.
At least for now. Giuliani is also shrewdly trying to strengthen his appeal to free-market reform-minded conservatives and libertarians. He has, for example, recently spoken at several business and economic events with Steve Forbes, including a Forbes magazine CEO conference in Sydney, Australia.
Conservatives are casting around right now for a serious presidential candidate, and having a hard time picturing even people they like being able to break out of the pack."....Giuliani doesn't have the GOP nomination locked up....not by any means....but he is attracting support from people who like him in spite of some of his views....
is that right?....I'm not sure, yet....but it's happening, and it's intriguing....the big question right now is: who else do conservatives have to lead us through the threats of the next four years?
....Newt Gingrich has real strengths but also serious weaknesses, and I don't think he's electable
....Gov. Mitt Romney has not convinced me yet he's a real conservative
....Gov. Mike Huckabee is a wonderful evangelical Christian and effective governor....but he's also a tax-raiser and is he really ready to be Commander-in-Chief at a moment of global peril?....I'm open to the possibility, but I'm not yet convinced
....Sen. Sam Brownback?....great believer and fabulous Senator....I agree with him on 98% of the issues, but that last 2% is big for me -- he totally opposes President Bush on the Iraq War and doesn't seem to understand the seriousness of the Iran threat in a way that has given me assurance
....Sen. John McCain?....forget about it....
so where does that leave us?....Forbes has made his choice....I'm not ready to make mine....but I'm praying for wisdom and watching closely....the stakes could not be higher.
Wow, you sure are pushing it. I take it you are done with this troll name, and ready to move on to the next, eh?
Welcome to FR. Just what we need, another pot stirrer.
I'm shaky at this point in time about who to vote for altho I know it is still early but with Bush for me it was a slam dunk and I thank God he was the President during this time. I shudder to think if anyone else had been President considering he hasn't wavered one time on the war on terror. I love that Rudy would be tough in that area too but I don't know that much about Fred Thompson, Duncun Hunter etc. i worry about Iran because all these whack job countries know with libs in charge we are weak and spineless and and I don't want someone in that will blink.
I don't care what anyone else says, that was hilarious!
Wow. A first. Someone got warned off spamming.
Hey Stevie! Would you give Fred Thompson a fair shot?
No - we're down on spamming. But we are free to give you a day off. Isn't Freedom a wonderful thing?
There's a name for people like you who are obsessed with gay issues; it's called projection. Look it up.
Amazing how much info you can find if you click the link!
[from link]
Joel C. Rosenberg is the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Jihad, The Last Days, The Ezekiel Option, The Copper Scroll, and Epicenter: How the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your World, with more than one million copies in print. He is also the founder and president of the Joshua Fund, a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that provides humanitarian relief for victims of war and terrorism in Israel and the Muslim world.
These anti-Rudy types aren't onto it that there is a little show business involved in a presidential campaign. It is difficult to run a candidate people basically do not like (Newt, and, as the democrat party is finding out - Tubba), has no spark (Romney, Hunter), is unsure if he will run or not (Thompson).
....because he wants to be appointed somewhere in the federal government?
Funny, Mitt Romney hasn't convinced him that he's a "real" conservative....but Rudy HAS....
Aren't you on the wrong Forum? Class warfare and the Two Americas are a Dim John Edwards thing.
Did you see that article about Rudy being mobbed at the Target store in Las Vegas yesterday? The "Banjo Guy from Deliverance Fringe" of the conservative movement is as tone-deaf as the MSM about this candidacy. This race is going to be historic. No one has seen a candidacy like this one in over 50 years, and I'm including Reagan's landslide wins in that contrast.
As Kris Kristofferson wrote, "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose."
Ah, Gawd, I can hear that nasty voice singing it now. That was not nice of you!
I read The Last Jihad and it was quite good!
"You are down on freedom?"
That makes me wonder, wonder, wonder, Sunsong--not who wrote the Book of Love, but whether Mel Gibson's William Wallace really yelled that: "Freedom!"--as those evil English persons dissected him.
Or did he really say, "Stop that! Stop zotting me! Ouchie, ouchie, ouchie--the cutting and hurting and biting and metal teeth . . . " Wait, that was Professor Frink.
So what do you think? (drumming fingers)
Just kiddin'...:)
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