Giuliani

last updated 8 January 2015

For the Republican front'“runner, it's a 'œhigh'“stakes gamble,' said Craig Gordon in Newsday. Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani still leads the field of GOP presidential contenders in the polls'”but to get the 2008 nomination, he'll have to win over wary social conservatives. After weeks of trying to play down his liberal social views, Giuliani last week crossed a Republican Rubicon. In a speech at Houston Baptist University, Giuliani said he personally believed that abortion is 'œmorally wrong,' but said, 'œI would grant women the right to make that choice.' Giuliani's support of abortion and gay rights could sink him with the party's base of Christian conservatives, said Adam Nagourney and Marc Santora in The New York Times. But it was a gamble he had to make, since his long record as a pro'“choicer would be difficult to deny. Hence his argument that Republicans should nominate a centrist with the greatest chance of winning a general election. If Republicans can't unite 'œaround broad principles'' such as free markets and the need to aggressively oppose Islamic extremism, Giuliani said, 'œwe are going to lose this election.''

Even though I oppose abortion, I think he's right, said Jack Kelly in the Pittsburgh Post'“Gazette. Of all the candidates, Giuliani makes the most convincing case that he'd fight terrorism relentlessly and effectively, and 'œif we don't win the war on terror, nothing else will matter very much.' Look at what Giuliani accomplished as New York's mayor. He overcame liberal opposition and an entrenched bureaucracy to cut crime, get the homeless off the streets, and cut taxes. And we all remember how his resolute, heartfelt speeches rallied the country after the attack on the World Trade Center. After eight years of George W. Bush, we need competence, not ideological purity. That's a view many shell'“shocked Republicans now share, said Thomas Edsall in The New Republic. The Christian right's brief dominance of the party is waning, with libertarians and economic conservatives now reclaiming the party. 'œSept. 11 has replaced abortion, gay marriage, and other social'“sexual matters as the issue that binds together the GOP.'' As the candidate who best represents America's defiant response to Sept. 11, Giuliani is now poised to redefine what it means to be a conservative and a Republican.

But if Republicans buy Rudy's argument on abortion, said E.J. Dionne in The Washington Post, what does that say about their principles? For a generation, the party's politicians have 'œcynically'' used abortion to their own ends, sending 'œsoothing messages to pro'“lifers'' to get their votes. If abortion really represents murder, as pro'“lifers contend, how can any conservative support Giuliani, regardless of their agreement with him on other issues?