Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is doing very well in various early Presidential opinion polls, from the scientific (latest USA Today/Gallup poll) to the informal (GOP bloggers straw poll) and in GOP party straw polls. (He won the Clark County, WA Lincoln Day Dinner straw poll last weekend 35% - Romney's 20% and McCain's 12%).
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at February 14, 2007 11:12 AM | Email ThisThe latest, I assume, is from old Giuliani staffers (via Howard Kurtz) bringing up some old 14 year old or older staffer memo. I assume that the memo is part and parcel of the Clinton Terminator Squad.
Today, Orbusmax referenced a nice article about Ginrich that was nice about Newt without going negative on the others.
Posted by: swatter on February 14, 2007 11:14 AMMost Americans are sick of this Red State-Blue State jive. And Rudy will put a stop to that by uniting the vast majority of us who want to eradicate Islamist terrorism. You think George W. Bush is tough? Imagine if he was brilliant, articulate, and could get by on three hours of sleep a night. That's Rudy.
The anti-war, anti-American Left in this country has a lot to fear from Rudy. Religious conservatives do not.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 11:14 AMDon't say this out loud, as it will only embolden the media to further exaggerate their already-grotesquely biased coverage of Obama and Hillary further. Mitt Romney's entering the race was welcomed with virtually no coverage from the media at all.
Advertising Republican good news is dangerous in times where the media is so aggressively crossing the line to help Demorats.
Posted by: MJC on February 14, 2007 11:14 AMListen: In a Hillary vs. Obama matchup, Hill wins hands down. She's tougher and more experienced than Barack, and, although I'm sure he was a fine "community organizer", he doesn't frankly appear to have the balls to be President. And, er, Hillary does.
This race will come down to Hillary and Rudy. And that'll be an easy decision for me and, I'll wager, a significant majority of American voters.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 11:22 AMI don't agree with all things Giuliani, but that's true of every single candidate on both sides of the aisle. I'm with Giuliani, because he's got the balls to stand up to radical Islam. GW does not as evidenced by his most recent cowardly walk-back with regard to North Korea. Unfortunately, Bush is not a closer, nor someone who stands up and denounces his critics, and for that reason, it will be good to see him go.
Posted by: Jeff B. on February 14, 2007 11:25 AMMitt's being a Mormon might have some liability. Although I don't care one way or the tuther myself, I know many Christians who view Mormonism as "a cult" and disrespect it as a religion. Conversion from a Christian faith to Mormonism causes much angst amongst these folks. How deep these feelings run nationally and if it will cost him votes is up for discussion.
I'm really of two minds with McCain. On one hand, he's a veteran and I really respect that. On the other, his decisions on various issues enrages me. For example his crafting of campaign "reform" has made things so bad that Republicans may never recover and he still hasn't figured out how bad it is. I also think he's a bigger government guy along the lines of Bush.
A Giuliani/Romney ticket might work.
I don't think this country needs another draft dodger as President.
I also hope that Bush will work with Congress and vice versa to forge a new direction in Iraq, but that seems less likely day by day. I believe that Rudy would be able to take effective action re:Iraq, if he were in Bush's shoes now. Don't forget though; The Democrats are known as the Sneaky Party and the Republicans are the Stupid Party. These labels seem to be sticking well in this new decade...
Posted by: KS on February 14, 2007 12:14 PMLook, Rudy no more dodged the draft than Hillary did. He was in ROTC in college, and for two straight years after that he was available for the draft--but high lottery numbers kept him at home. It's true that he got an employment dispensation when he clerked for a judge after law school, but that came at the request of his boss who, I'm sure you'd agree, wasn't too excited at the prospect of losing a valuable employee to the Army in the middle the term. There's no story here.
As for Rudy's divorces: Get a life, dude.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 12:22 PMHe claims to understand the Second Amendment, and then says that densely populated areas like NYC have special exceptions.
No, Mr. Mayor, you don't understand the Second Amendment. And if you don't get that one, I don't trust you with the rest of them, either.
I for one will never vote for Rudi Giuliani. I may force myself to vote against a Democrat, but I won't vote for Rudi. And you don't win elections when a big chunk of your base's only motivation is to vote against your opponent.
Posted by: Heartless Libertarian on February 14, 2007 12:23 PMBut one important person is satsified: former Solicitor General Ted Olson. I'm sure you know that General Olson is a strong supporter of the individual right interpretation of the Second Amendment. He made that very argument twice to the U.S. Supreme Court when he worked in the Bush Administration. Well, Ted Olson announced yesterday that he's endorsing Rudy and will be working with the campaign on constitutional and policy matters.
Rudy is not a gun grabber. Hillary is. That's an easy choice, right?
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 12:30 PMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8
Posted by: Me on February 14, 2007 12:38 PMIt being Valentine's day, I am curious to know if you thoughtfully took care of the Mrs Shark. Flowers, chocolates, diamonds???? What's the gift of choice for Seattle's top political blogger?
Anonymous
Posted by: Anonymous on February 14, 2007 12:55 PMI don't think the Left is worried one bit. He's quite leftist compared to the other candidates.
Rudy did drop out once before against Hillary, I'm sure history could repeat itself. Besides you and I both know Romney's got the nomination in the bag.
And Rudy dropped out against Hillary because he prostate cancer. So I suppose history could repeat itself if he gets cancer again. I'm sure you're not cheering for that.
Mitt has as much as a chance of winning the GOP nomination as you do. The dude can't break 10% in the polls, and he's already been branded as the Mormon flip-flopper. That's a tough hole to climb out of when you've got low name recognition and no national identity. Stick a fork in him.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 01:19 PMI point out that if we want to talk ethnicity, not quality, we should note that Guiliani will be our first Italian-American President.
I ask them to play fair, and make note of that the next time the start to write about someone being the First President, as if it really matters...
Sheesh.
So, today, we have the more central Republicans picking their guy and the more conservative picking their guys. So, Romney versus McCain for the more conservative and Giuliani and whoever for the more central. Then, during the primaries (the semis) will occur between the two that have won their side of the party battle for the right to take on Clinton.
Posted by: swatter on February 14, 2007 01:47 PMSo why didn't he try again, you know she was up for reelection just last year. The "Rudy was waiting for the 2008 elections" excuse is lame.
> I think you'd be hard pressed to call Rudy a leftist of any stripe
Pro-Gay Marriage, Pro-Gun Control, Pro-Choice. I'd say those are pretty liberal positions for a GOP candidate. Not going to win him any points in the South.
> he's already been branded as the Mormon flip-flopper
Rudy's a flip flopper too, he used to be a leftist Democrat.
"Pro-Gay Marriage, Pro-Gun Control, Pro-Choice." I'm not sure these positions make someone a "leftist" but, at any rate, it's not the complete story. Rudy OPPOSES gay marriage. He's very clear about that. And while he says he's pro-choice, he thinks late term abortions should be illegal and supports parental notification. And he's made clear that he would appoint strict constructionist judges to the Supreme Court, in the mold of Scalia, Alito, and Roberts. That's code, dude, for "I think Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided and think the states should have the power to regulate abortions." And while, no doubt, Rudy supported gun control when he was mayor of New York, he's said that he understands the Second Amendment and has no interest in going after lawful gun ownership.
As for the fact that Rudy was once a Democrat but is now a Republican: I'd say that doesn't make him a flip-flopper. It makes him smart.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 03:24 PMI'd rather vote for hillary or obama, than aid the republicans in their continued slide to the left. If all conservatives refuse to vote for liberal lite and instead vote for the real thing, maybe the republicans will wake up and take back their party. Otherwise what's the point of voting republican? Just vote for the democrat candidate and get it over with.
Posted by: ba on February 14, 2007 04:11 PMAt any rate, isn't it the job of the U.S. government to enforce immigration laws, not the mayor or police of New York City? That's what Rudy's promised to do as President. He'd build a fence across the Mexican border and require the Americanization of anybody who wants to legally immigrant--including, especially, requiring immigrants to learn English.
Posted by: DJ on February 14, 2007 04:37 PMI'm afraid for his sake that the Deliverance wing of the G.O.P won't tolerate him. In addition to guns, gays, and choice, please remember that he changed his registration one day before his primary.
Let's hope there isn't too much scorched earth during the primary.
Posted by: Jim on February 14, 2007 10:32 PM