Posted by
on Friday, February 23, 2007 5:00:24 PM
Rudy Giuliani hasn't even fired up his campaign yet, and he's already beating his GOIP opponents in straw polls across the country. Detractors on the Right and Left have come out to balst him (always on the same three or four subjects--abortion, gay rights, gun control, and occasionally on his marriages and divorces), but aside from that there really is no serious criticism. At least with the veracity and intensity that candidates like John McCain, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama have faced, thus far.
The New York Times today stepped up to the plate and swung at him over the fact that he hasn't fielded any tough questions; that he's being tossed softballs:
In a swing through South Carolina this week, Rudolph W. Giuliani chose to campaign at a fire house, which is a little like Derek Jeter meeting with Yankees fans — a most unlikely forum for hostility, or even much skepticism.
Instead of the sometimes barbed give-and-take endured by the other candidates, Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, fielded a few questions from the firefighters and police officers who gathered to hear him here. The questions, which began with comments like, “Being in your presence here is just unbelievable,” stuck almost entirely to issues on which Mr. Giuliani is most comfortable, like airport security and border control.
More than the other major presidential candidates, Mr. Giuliani has limited himself to events with narrowly defined, friendly audiences, avoiding the kind of uncomfortable interrogations his rivals have occasionally faced. Aside from a couple of brief swings through diners, including one yesterday in Delray Beach, Fla., he has done little of the politicking that exposes candidates to random sets of people — at shopping malls or train stations — who might be of any political stripe, and can raise any issue.
Really? Shows how much the Times actually pays attention to Rudy and his travels. The Palm Beach Post has just such a story about Rudy meeting the average guy and girl:
Rudy Giuliani may be running for president, but to more than 150 former New Yorkers who came to see him Thursday at a popular deli west of Delray Beach, Giuliani was still their mayor.
Speaking and often shouting in the unmistakable accents of New York, Giuliani was crushed by a score of fans as soon as he stepped from his car.
They held up cameras and cellphone cameras. They pushed. They shook his hand. They admired his wife, Judith. And most of them were Democrats, who will not be able to vote for him in the GOP primary.
"I came down from Singer Island just to see him," said Carol Hurst, who held a small, hand-lettered sign with the words, "Rudy for President."
He is seeing the average American, and many people still are endeared to him because of his accomplishments in Gotham, and his stellar leadership in the wake of the worst attack on American soil ever. Detractors say that the 11 September fame will fade in the coming election cycle, but it's been six years since that bloody Tuesday, and people still haven't forgotten about him, or what he did. He's not unafraid to answer any questions from the public, thought the Times does get one thing right in their story:
“For now it’s O.K., but he can’t follow that strategy indefinitely,” said Fergus Cullen, the Republican chairman in New Hampshire. “People in New Hampshire, Iowa and a couple of other places really demand a chance to hit you between the eyes, and to ask a pointed follow-up if you don’t give a straight answer. And there’s a curveball in every group.”
Yes, those in the main primary states are going to ask tough questions, but this is a man who dealt regularly with an openly hostile press in Gotham. Rudy didn't just fall off the turnip truck. He will, as the campaign goes on, lay out a platform for people to see. And yes, he'll get pointed questions on social issues. Do we think those questions will derail his candidacy? No, we don't. Simply put, would we rather have a man who is pro-choice on abortion, and a hawk on defense, or a woman who is more vehemently pro-choice (read: pro-abortion), and a dove on national security? Do we want a man who is fiscally-responsible, or a woman who stated the following in San Francxisco in June of 2004:
"Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you," Sen. Clinton said. "We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Gotta love that liberal, wealth redistribution mindset there. And Rudy hates that. He proved it in NYC when he reformed the welfare offices there. No longer were they simply the place to go pick up that "guv'mint" check; they were places where people learned what it was to look for a job, make a resume, and learn what to do in an interview. After Giuliani was done, welfare rolls started to decrease.
It's no secret that Marcie and I are behind Giuliani early. And yes, we're to whack away at a few critics of his (no offense to Ramesh on this, we just disagree. BTW, nice kiss of death there) but that's because we're supporting a guy we think can win, and we think he can unify the base.
No, not everyone will be on board, but John McCain is only going to force the base to stay home. Until we see more from Mitt, we really can't decide on him one way or the other. We like him, but we're just not sure about him. And no offense to the rest of the also-rans, but they don't stand a chance. They either lack the name recognition, or are one-issue candidates. You need a platform, and they just don't have one.
So, for the time being, we're going with Rudy. As of 1 March, our readers will see the case we laid out for him (provided the column meets the Chief's approval).
Publius II