Working the field, part II — Giuliani

Rudolph William Louis Giuliani

What, immediately, can I say about this media-ordained front-runner?

To start with, I’ll point out that if any American was a big winner from the 9/11 attacks, it’s Rudy Giuliani. On 9/10/01, he was a hated mayor seen generally as a bully. The next day, he was “America’s mayor.”

I look at his poll numbers and keep asking, “Why?” Giuliani didn’t show up to the Values Voter Debate, but that might have been a good call. He was going to be asked by Teresa Ippoliti about his position on abortion, and whether he really thinks that she should have been killed. This is the same Rudy Giuliani who took the bold stance “It would be okay” if Roe v. Wade is overturned. Hardly the kind of passion I’d like to see on an issue, notwithstanding the point that he’s on the wrong side of the issue.

Giuliani, of course, is running on 9/11 and terrorism. Secondary is his claim to be the one fiscal conservative in the race. This represents very much the school of thought that social issues should not be important in Presidential politics. For those who are looking for someone to take up the mantle of Ronald Reagan, make no mistake, Giuliani is not the guy. Reagan believed in the premise that the US was not just a military and economic powerhouse, but it needed to be a moral powerhouse. That principle is not one of Giuliani’s.

Giuliani will not sign the famous “no new taxes” pledge, but does profess that lowering taxes is good for the economy. Of the Fair Tax proposal, he says that it’s too complex, and simply wants to reduce taxes as they exist. I disagree, but generally I’d have to say that his tax policy is acceptable to me.

He’s sold on anything that ties to the war on terror, including the war in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. He has unapologetically advocated using any kind of interrogation method in order to get information from terrorists, including refusing to swear off torture.

Gun control is an interesting area for Giuliani, since New York City has very strict gun control laws that Giuliani has endorsed as helping to limit crime. His sales pitch: he understands that what works in NYC won’t necessarily work in other areas. Why that seems to be selling, I don’t understand. He did pursue a lawsuit against two dozen gun manufacturers and distributors.  Does that seem like the conservative approach? Is that focusing on the criminals? I’m not sure how to reconcile that with this statement from his web site:

Rudy Giuliani is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. He understands that every law-abiding American has an individual right to keep and bear arms that is guaranteed by the Constitution. To deal with a city where crime was out of control, Mayor Giuliani worked to get guns out of the hands of criminals — resulting in a 66% drop in the murder rate and 72% reduction in criminal related shootings. The best way to deal with gun crime is to prosecute the criminals and enforce the laws already on the books. Rudy Giuliani will make sure that if someone commits a crime with a gun, they will go to prison for the mandatory sentence.

Giuliani’s family life is a matter of well-known problems. For the record, divorce isn’t the problem. I know about Reagan’s divorce. Heck, I know about my own. However, I have to look back at what we said about Bill Clinton in the 1992 campaign — we said that you can’t trust an adulterer. We said that character counts.  Spend a little bit of time looking into his history, and you’ll wonder how anyone who believes in the need for strong moral character could possibly back Giuliani.

When asked about character questions at the Fox debate in NH, he said:

I think someone’s family life is something that you all look into to determine how are they going to conduct themselves in public office. Any issues that go on in my private life, I don’t think are terribly different than at least some people in this country. I certainly haven’t lived a perfect life. I am not running as the perfect candidate for president. I’m running as a human being who has been very successful as a leader and had definable results in a situation in which people thought it was impossible to accomplish these things. They thought it was impossible to manage New York City. It was described as an unmanageable city. Now they’re writing books about how well I managed it. So, obviously, any issues in my private life do not affect my public performance.

Bill Clinton would have been proud. If, frankly, this is the kind of position that we’re taking on the election, then we owe Clinton an apology for the things we said about him.

Giuliani did take part in the prosecution of Michael Milken under RICO. He also conducted the prosecutions of Marc Rich and Pincus Green, who were (incidentally) pardoned by President Clinton. That should be credited to him as a positive.

Pro-choice, pro-gun control, and denying the importance of his personal life as a matter of  political character.
Ultimately, I can’t see why Giuliani is popular among conservatives. He’s not our guy.