Giuliani Throwing Hat In The Ring?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Elections
Frankly, a Giuliani nomination would be an impressive step forward for a new Republican party, but if McCain won’t get the nomination…can Rudy? I have my doubts.
Robert Novak shares similar sentiments:
Republican insiders respond to these numbers by saying rank-and-file GOP voters will abandon Giuliani once they realize his position on abortion, gay rights and gun control. Party strategists calculate that if he actually runs, he must change on at least one of these issues.
My guess is gun control will go by the wayside. That’s not a big issue anyway. Still, it’d be interesting for a pro-gun Democrat to run campaign ads calling on moderate Republicans to support him or her because Giuliani is a Republican in name only…hmmm…stranger things have happened.
Note to Republicans, if you put Giuliani up for nomination, I would seriously consider supporting him. In addition to his leadership during 9/11 and the hard months to follow, he did a lot of great things for New York City. Sure, some of them were rather draconian, but given a choice between a Times Square full of peep shows and prostitutes, or one filled with families, I can understand why he chose the latter.
By the way…the picture isn’t a dig. However, does anybody think that once the Republican base starts seeing these things that they’d elect this guy? What do you think?
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July 9th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
I am curious to see how the supra-religious base of the Republican will take to him – either embrace him as a modern day King David or scoff him off as one who broke a commandment. He may have some great ideas and directions to take this nation, but his Achilles ankle right now is the southern states where the neo-evangelicals and fundamentalists have to be wooed to get him the Republican nomination.
Could there be a second ‘South Carolina’ moment in the upcoming run for the presidency?
I have a question back to you, even with a new Republican candidate for the POTUS, do you feel it will be ‘do over’ for the country with a new leader? Granted POTUS Bush, VP Cheney, SecDef Rumsfeld, Amb. Bolton will be leaving government, what about all of the other political appointees waiting to get their ’spoils’ with a new Republican leader. How much change do you expect from one administration to the other?
July 9th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
I saw a news clip that showed Pat Robertson saying he despised McCain, but he liked Rudy and would not be opposed to his nomination. I wish I had a link for you, but it is encouraging. Rudy is my guy.
July 9th, 2006 at 7:08 pm
Well, if the POTUS changes parties, there will obviously be much more change. That’s just the nature of the beast.
However, a McCain or a Giuliani will definitely focus less on the religious-social issues, will bring back some much needed perspective on our laws regarding torture and start trimming the budget so we don’t fall further into massive debt. I know many don’t think the debt is a big deal, but it is if we keep our eye off the ball for long enough.
Does that answer your questions ES?
July 9th, 2006 at 10:13 pm
Pat Robertson despises McCain?? but likes Giuliani? That’s just plain weird. McCain is pro-life, etc. Why?
Justin, I regard you publishing those photos now as a preemptive strike! Of course, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a lot of them in a primary fight.
July 9th, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Jimmy: I don’t know which news clip you saw. However, Pat Robertson has expressed support for Guiliani on more than one occasion, for example on ABC’s “This Week” in May 2005 and more recently on CBS News Sunday Morning on April 9 of this year (perhaps this is the one of which you’re thinking?).
But I don’t think these statements should provoke much hope for Guiliani fans. (I should say that I would be quite open to voting for Guiliani, should he capture the nomination.) The Carpetbagger Report contrasts Robertson’s view with Jerry Falwell’s and links to an NYT article on fissures within the Evangelical bloc.
As to Amba’s question about how Robertson can like Guiliani but dislike McCain, Joe Carter of the evangelical outpost addresses this this precise issue in a May 2005 post that also offers some interesting insights into the thinking of many Christian conservatives associated with the religious right.
July 10th, 2006 at 1:03 am
Haha, oh…you can bet on it.
reader_i_am…thanks so much for the links. You’re a hell of a researcher!
But to the point of a Giuliani candidacy…one can only guess that 9/11 has left him nearly bulletproof for now. That’ll change, but he can ride this wave for a while. And if that gives him the authority to push through a more moderate social agenda, then so be it.
Again, I’d definitely consider voting for Rudy. He’s good people.
July 10th, 2006 at 6:04 am
Is it just me or does Rudy look like Robert Duval in the photo to the left?
And I wouldn’t discount the value of drag. Jack Lemon, Tony Curtis, Milton Berle, J. Egdar Hoover. The tradition goes way back.
July 10th, 2006 at 8:15 am
Reader, how do you do it??
Having been in NY on 9/11 makes me, for one, a pushover for Rudy. I actually liked him as mayor before that — not just because he cleaned up the city and turned it into a nice clean amusement park for tourists, but because I watched the televised version of his radio show, where he was open to complaints and questions from the public — and the man was so hands-on, he was like a small-town mayor; no matter was too small for him to take an interest in. He obviously loved what he was doing.
July 10th, 2006 at 8:22 am
I wonder why the links to Evangelical Outpost don’t work. The link is perfect; the site seems to be down, or out.
July 10th, 2006 at 8:41 am
Being a Centrist Republican, I would vote for Rudy in heartbeat. (McCain too.)
Plus, as a gay Republican, I have to have some pride in seeing a fellow GOPer do drag and do it so well!
Work it, grrrrl! ;)
July 10th, 2006 at 9:02 am
I was going to vote for Giuliani until Ms. Sander’s post — now I’m just kind of sick to my stomach thinking about it.
July 10th, 2006 at 11:24 am
I hope he shows up at the inauguration ball in drag! Maybe even do a Liza or Judy song.
July 10th, 2006 at 4:53 pm
I would prefer Giuliani to McCain anyday. He’s pro-choice, pro-gay marriage and strong on foreign policy/national security. What’s there not to like?
July 11th, 2006 at 11:35 am
Dos,
I hope you’re joking. Sick to your stomach? I know you are acquainted with some really good people who also happen to be homosexual. And don’t tell me that you didn’t think “The Birdcage” was funny!
July 11th, 2006 at 11:40 am
I’m still not sure (even after looking at the links provided above) why someone like Robertson likes Giuliani but not McCain. If either of them became the Repub pick for ‘08, AND if the Dem pick was a little iffy for me, I think I could actually vote Republican again. Otherwise, I would vote for the Dem if I really liked him or her, but would not cry and be depressed for a month if McCain or Giuliani won.
July 12th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
There is a lot of time left before the campaigning begins; heck they have not hit the trail as of yet. Gov. Giuliani (GG) will have a number of things to be brought to the table, but as someone had said before, his actions after the 9-11 attacks gives him some standing as a giant in the field of candidates. I still think it is possible for a chink in his political armor for an attack by the Religious Right (RR) group.
As I had said before, an attack by one of Giuliani’s opponents to get the Republican nomination could use the similar attack used by Karl Rove against Sen. McCain in South Carolina. Who in the right minds would have thought of McCain fathering children out of wedlock would be such a big issue? But then again the mother had one ’strike’ against her. The 2008 campaign is still two years from now, but someone could inflame the RR on his indiscretions and stand for women’s reproductive rights.
For all of the talk of McCain of being a centrist, he still tried to mend some bridges with the RR a few months ago when he went to give commencement speeches along the east coast.
One of the authors on the Moderate Voice had a recent entry about the possibility of POTUS Bush’s first veto to a Congressional bill. The bill is neither about the economy (earmarks, rising deficit, balancing this FY budget) nor national security (military, supposed leaks, spying, torture). The bill that may be vetoed is about stem-cell research. This is showing the dependency of the Republicans on the RR to keep them in office. This is also something either a centrist or non-religious conservative candidate will need to overcome – I am dubious right now of that happening. About three weeks ago, Ms. Peggy Noonan had written one of her editorial pieces equating conservative military folks not equal to the standards of social/religious conservatives.
As for a centrist coming out of the Republican Party and will somehow limit spending is also dubious. This current set of Congressmen is gluttons for spending money – they are self-professed fiscal champions and they are currently under numerous investigations for corruption. Mr. Wheeler published a book that goes into great length to show the hypocrisy of McCain and other fiscal champions in their fight to limit spending. This is the same set of Congressmen (Delay, Hassert, Boehner, Blunt, and others) who busted the previous administration’s ***** to get a balanced budget through.
If a centrist were to become POTUS, I would say the biggest area of improvement would be in foreign relations. The ‘cowboy’ image would be thrown away, as well as all of the pseudo-conservatives courtiers called neo-conservatives.