What's a presidential candidate to do when he's 'œtoo liberal for conservatives, too Republican for Democrats,' and his messy personal life could make a libertarian cringe? asked Cynthia Tucker in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. If you're Rudy Giuliani, you bank on the fear factor. Twice last week, at a Republican fund-raiser and then in the conservative rumpus room of Sean Hannity's radio show, 'œAmerica's mayor' predicted that if a Democrat is elected to be our next president, he or she would promptly 'œwave the white flag' in the war on terror and the nation would suffer 'œmore losses' on the order of 9/11. How Giuliani knows this is a mystery'”but why he's saying it is obvious. With little else to campaign on, Giuliani has decided to 'œenthusiastically embrace the Karl Rove strategy of scaring voters into becoming supporters.'
In this case, though, Giuliani's right, said Byron York in National Review Online. His claim that 'œDemocrats do not understand the full nature and scope of the terrorist war against us' came only days before a televised Democratic debate at which an entire field of candidates proved Rudy's point. When asked how they would respond if al Qaida mounted simultaneous terrorist attacks on two U.S. cities, Barack Obama and John Edwards both ducked the question, preferring instead to talk about the importance of adequate 'œemergency response' for the victims and the need for 'œgood intelligence' before retaliating. Only Hillary Clinton suggested the U.S. might respond with military action, but then immediately backpedaled, stressing that we should not 'œgo looking for other fights.' In other words, the U.S. would play defense under a Democratic president'”just as Giuliani is warning.
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