Posts with the tag 'Rudy Giuliani'
The McCain campaign held a conference call earlier today with Rudy Giuliani and senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann to respond to Senator Obama’s remarks on terrorism.
In response to the conference, plagiarist Joe Biden made the following comment.
“It’s no surprise that it takes a man with zero national security and foreign policy experience to defend the policies of John McCain and President Bush.”
That’s really funny, because it’s really no surprise that it takes a man with zero national security and foreign policy experience to be the Democratic Party’s nominee for president.
Tags: Global War on Terrorism, Joe Biden, liberal lies, National Security, Rudy Giuliani
June 18th, 2008
It was inevitable… Rudy is going to dropout, and likely endorse John McCain. (Mike Huckabee ought to dropout too, but last night he appeared committed to pressing on.)
John Edwards is dropping out, however, he has not made any immediate endorsement. This, I find interesting. In 2004, Edwards reportedly begged John Kerry to make him his running mate. With a brutal and tight race ahead between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Edwards is in an interesting position. His endorsement might actually be important at this point. The question is, who will he endorse, and why? I suspect that his endorsement will only come on the condition that he be the candidate’s running mate in the general election. What does he have to lose? He’s a one-term Senator who couldn’t even win his home state for John Kerry in 2004, or his state’s primary this year.
The way I see it, Edwards’ best bet is to endorse Hillary Clinton. An Obama-Edwards ticket just doesn’t seem likely… Two Senators who ran for the presidency before their first terms as U.S. Senators were even finished on the same ticket? Don’t count on it. If Edwards wants to ride anyone’s coattails into the general election, he’d probably see Hillary as his best bet. She at least waited a few seconds after winning reelection to the Senate to declare her candidacy for the presidency.
Tags: John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani
January 30th, 2008
From last night’s State of the Union:
In the work ahead, we must be guided by the philosophy that made our nation great. As Americans, we believe in the power of individuals to determine their destiny and shape the course of history. We believe that the most reliable guide for our country is the collective wisdom of ordinary citizens. And so in all we do, we must trust in the ability of free peoples to make wise decisions, and empower them to improve their lives for their futures.
So, how do the Democrats view America?
Barack Obama:
So let me remind you tonight that change will not be easy. That change will take time. There will be setbacks, and false starts, and sometimes we will make mistakes. But as hard as it may seem, we cannot lose hope. Because there are people all across this country who are counting us; who can’t afford another four years without health care or good schools or decent wages because our leaders couldn’t come together and get it done.
Hillary Clinton:
I know that we have to change our education program from the federal level and I know that we’ve got to create a better partnership between Washington and Connecticut and Hartford and all of the other communities here. We can do this. There is so much yearning in our country to be part of something bigger than ourselves again. We can provide a really positive view of our future together and we can ask everybody to be a part of it. It’s not just about electing a president and passing legislation through the Congress. It’s about what each and every one of us will do.
John Edwards:
We need a president who will take these powers on and fight to get you your voice back, and your government back. We need a president who is going to fight every day to make sure that all Americans can find good jobs, save for the future, and be guaranteed health care and retirement security. We need a president who is going to lift up the middle class. That is why today, I am proposing my Middle Class Rising agenda, a comprehensive plan to help hardworking families get ahead, and make sure that all Americans have a fair shot at the American Dream.
In a nutshell: President Bush says to rely upon the American people; Obama, Clinton and Edwards say the American people need a vast federal government to do it for the American people. These are the three Democrats who propose to replace President Bush - who propose, in the end, to replace a man who believes in America and Americans, with a man (or woman) who has no faith in the people to do for themselves. How are the 2008 GOPers in contrast?
Mitt Romney:
Republicans for Change believe in small government. Governments should be restrained so that the freedoms and vitality of individuals and enterprises can be unleashed. Compared to free markets and free enterprises, government is slow to act, wasteful, duplicative, bureaucratic, inefficient, ineffective, and unresponsive. Have I left anything out? Other than that, government isn’t all bad.
John McCain:
My friends, I know we are facing challenging economic times, and we must be responsive to the concerns of Americans who fear they are being left behind in the global economy. But nothing is inevitable in our country. We are the captains of our fate. We can overcome any challenge as long as we keep our courage, and stand by our defense of free markets, low taxes, and small government that have made America the greatest land of opportunity in the world.
Rudy Giuliani:
Americans need tax relief as well, which is why I will eliminate the death tax, index the Alternative Minimum Tax to inflation and target it for elimination. I will simplify the tax code to an optional one-page form. I will also expand tax-free health savings accounts as part of a larger proposal to make health care more affordable.
I believe one of the reasons Republicans lost control of Congress in 2006 was because of excessive spending in the years leading up to that election. Over the last decade, nondefense spending has increased 72 percent, and this year Washington spent nearly $24,000 for every household in America.
Controlling spending must be a chief executive’s priority.
So, the top three are also believers in the ability of Americans to make it on their own. Who do you want as your next President - someone who proposes to wipe your nose for you, or someone who proposes to get the heck out of your way?
Your choice, America - make it well.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, John Edwards, President Bush, Rudy Giuliani
January 29th, 2008
Inevitable for sure… but still shocking, considering all the hype leading up to his entering the race.
Republican Fred Thompson, the actor-politician who attracted more attention as a potential presidential candidate than as a real one, quit the race for the White House on Tuesday after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.
“Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort,” the former Tennessee senator said in a brief statement.
Thompson’s fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.
In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination.
Reaction later.
UPDATE: So, what’s my reaction? I’m not sure what to think. I never understood the Fred Fever that boiled in the months leading up to his officially throwing his hat in. But he dominated in our online straw poll, and most bloggers I knew were all for him. I said some months ago that Fred Thompson’s best day happened before he got in the race, and that appears to be the case. While his message may have resonated, his performance otherwise was lacking. The big question now is whom will his supporters turn to now? There’s no simple answer. Thompson came into the race as an alternative to the original slate of candidates… I’m not sure if Thompson’s support was really about Thompson himself or if it was about a desperate desire to find anoint someone as the next Reagan.
Who will this help? Some are saying it will help Huckabee, but I’m not so sure. If it does, than that should be a concern for Rudy Giuliani, who is banking his entire candidacy on Florida and is in 3rd place with 19%, according to the latest Rasmussen poll, with Huckabee at 13%.
The fact is, it is a different race now than it was last fall. Thompson supporters may be more open to the original top tier candidates than they were. I guess we’ll find out soon who is really helped by Thompson’s departure.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani
January 22nd, 2008
If this is true, then only a massive win in Florida can save the day for Giuliani:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani is trailing in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even on his home turf of New York state, a new poll showed on Monday.
The WNBC/Marist poll ahead of the February 5 primaries in New York showed 34 percent of registered Republicans support John McCain, compared to 23 percent for Giuliani. Among Republicans likely to vote, McCain kept his 34 percent support, while Giuliani was tied in second place with Mitt Romney at 19 percent.
McCain’s campaign has been boosted by wins in New Hampshire and South Carolina in the state-by-state race to pick the two candidates to contest the November 4 election to succeed President George W. Bush.
Giuliani, whose once large lead in national polls has evaporated, largely bypassed early voting states and focused on Florida, which votes on January 29.
The time is fast approaching when we’ll know for certain if Giuliani’s campaign plan is genious, or bone-headed. I’m leaning towards bone-headed…it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to completely ignore the early contests. Heck, even a strong third place showing would have been better than the non-existence Giuliani has been in during the process to date. Of course, I could still be proven wrong here.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, New York, Rudy Giuliani
January 22nd, 2008
As Patrick Ruffini points out over at Town Hall - Romney, of course, won in Michigan; the “must win” State for him…but it was how he won over McCain which really shows the mountain McCain has to climb:
Romney won conservatives 41-23%, with 20% for Huckabee.
Romney won Republicans 41-27%.
Romney won Evangelicals 34-29% for Huckabee. McCain took just 23%.
Romney won with those satisfied with President Bush 45-24%. Yes, Republicans are split 50-50 on this, but it’s easier to message around support for the party’s leader rather than opposition to him. McCain always has to tread gingerly on this to avoid angering what institutional support he has.
This is an exact replay of McCain’s weakness in 2000 - he does well with everyone but core Republicans and as the primary process is a party nominating process, it stands to reason that party stalwarts will tend to rule the roost. McCain isn’t out of the running - not by a long shot - but in order for him to close the deal and be able to compete in the upcoming primaries (which tend to be more GOP-base in orientation), McCain is going to have to offer stalwart Republicans assurances that a President McCain won’t go have a love-fest with the Democrats at the expense of core GOP ideals.
Meanwhile, Romney showed he could win a primary - he had to run as if he were running for governor of Michigan, but a win is a win…the problem for Romney is to translate this Michigan victory into a national victory; a task hard enough on its own, made harder by the fact that Michigan’s GOP isn’t exaclty South Carolina’s GOP.
It could be that after the South Carolina primary we’re faced with this oddity: Huckabee won Iowa, McCain won New Hampshire, Romney won Michigan…and we could see Giuliani winning Nevada, and then Thompson winning South Carolina. Five contests, five different winners, each with a plausible path to the nomination in front of him…and I’ll get to pat myself on the back about how prescient I was about a brokered GOP convention…
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Fred Thompson, Michigan Primary, Rudy Giuliani
January 16th, 2008
By pointing out the obvious:
Giuliani said it’s no feat to make changes for the sake of change.
“Change is either good or bad. So I think people have to focus a little bit more carefully on, what is it that we’re promising, and what are we trying to do. Now, if the change is in the direction of lower taxes, less spending, giving parents choice over education, energy independence, these are things that are going to make a brighter future and a better America. But just the word ‘change’ doesn’t connote good or bad. You’ve got to get one step beyond that and start looking at the changes,” he said.
When the Democrats say they want “change”, it is very much like the “new direction” they campaigned on in 2006 - sounds nice, but it doesn’t actually mean anything. For someone like Giuliani, the Democrats talking about “change” has to sound a bit ridiculous - none of the top three Democratic contenders has ever had to make a decision to change anything - Giuliani has, and knows its not a magic incantation which just makes everything all right.
Take, for instance, one of the major changes the Democrats all say they want - universal health care. Fine and dandy - lets have it; but lets also have the details. And lets not tax them too highly - certainly not as highly as they plan on taxing us. We’ll start small: Hillary, John, Barack - under your universal health care plan, if there are ten people who need a colonoscopy today, and only 5 colonscopies can be done today, who decides who goes first, and who has to wait for later? If they can’t answer a simple question like that - and they can’t - then all their talk of “change” is just so much poll-tested fluff designed to sucker the credulous (ie, liberals) into voting for them.
I still haven’t settled on a candiate for 2008 (though with the caucuses just 9 days away, crunch time is coming), but in Giuliani, Thompson, Romney, McCain and Huckabee, we have candidates who have far more experience in the practical difficulties of “change” than the three leading Democrats. In simple terms of knowledge and experience, the Republican field far outclasses the Democratic field - and I think that as November approaches, this will become decisive in voters’ minds.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Rudy Giuliani
January 11th, 2008
Our friend Patrick Ruffini - a Giuliani supporter - gives an excellent analysis of why Giuliani is no longer the front runner for the GOP nomination:
…there are some fundamental problems with how Rudy is positioning his campaign with this strategy.
First, it gives off the impression that he doesn’t want to win. That he’s looking for a TKO rather than a decisive knockout punch. That he won’t go mano-y-mano with any of the opponents who matter. And that he doesn’t care about retail politics (in fact, the IA and SC blowback alone has probably contaminated him in NH). Perceived electability is not just poll numbers in the general, but how someone conducts themselves in the primary. Do they fight, or do they try and win on a technicality? That’s a proxy for how they will perform against the Clinton machine, and voters pick up on those kinds of signals.
Second, it ignores the fluidity of the race. Rudy was never the frontrunner in any traditional sense. A fifteen point lead in the primary is not like a fifteen point lead in a general election. It can evaporate overnight. John Kerry went from 15 to 40 percent in the polls after winning Iowa. It was clear from the beginning that the situation was simply too fluid for Rudy to simply run out the clock.
Third (and I’ll concede this can be temporary until Florida & Feb. 5 is upon us) but Rudy has missed out on the publicity surrounding the Iowa and New Hampshire contests. The coverage of Romney vs. Huck in Iowa has created centrifugal motion around those two, with voters nationally aligning on both sides of the Iowa proxy war. The McCain surge in New Hampshire is not confined to one state, but creates a rallying effect around him nationally. Missing in all this is Rudy. Just as voters tuned in to the race in November and December, he was totally AWOL in the early state-centric coverage.
Of course, if neither Huckabee, Romney nor McCain emerge from Iowa/New Hampshire/South Carolina as a clear front runner, then Giuliani’s plan still might work - those three knock each other to pieces for a couple weeks, and then Giuliani does well in the second and third rounds. But I do have to agree with Ruffini that Giuliani needed to get down and dirty in Iowa and New Hampshire even if they were lost causes. Heck, even a strong third place showing in Iowa could be spun as a large victory for socially-liberal Giuliani in socially-conservative Iowa. Perception is vitally important in a Presidential race - and Rudy doesn’t seem to be putting out the right perception of himself.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Rudy Giuliani
December 22nd, 2007
Tonight, I’d like to introduce our readers to Blogs For Victory’s first grassroots blogs.
Princella Smith and Leo Pusateri, who have been guest blogging with since we were at Blogs for Bush, are each heading up a grassroots blog here at Blogs For Victory. Princella is blogging at Blogs For Mike Huckabee’s Victory, and Leo is blogging at Blogs for Fred Thompson’s Victory.
If you are interested in joining Princella or Leo on either blog, or if you’re interested in blogging for another GOP presidential candidate, feel free to contact me.
UPDATE: A new one blooms… Blogs for Rudy Giuliani’s Victory.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Fred Thompson, grassroots blogs, Rudy Giuliani
December 19th, 2007
And that’s not a good thing for her…
Forty percent of Americans say they would vote to keep Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton from winning the presidency, more than twice the total for their No. 2 “anti-” pick, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
In a new Fox 5-The Washington Times-Rasmussen Reports survey, 64 percent of Republicans, 42 percent of third-party or independent voters, and 17 percent of Democrats said the candidate they most want to keep from the White House is Mrs. Clinton.
“Hillary Clinton is better known than any [other] presidential candidate on either side. She has a lot of people who love her and a lot of people who hate her,” said Scott Rasmussen, who conducted the poll.
Clearly, this is more of concern for Hillary and for Democrats if she makes it to the General Election… which I still suspect she will. However, if electability — or at least the perception of electability — is important to primary voters, Hillary may have a tough battle ahead of her to secure her party’s nomination.
Tags: Rudy Giuliani
December 18th, 2007
The AP had an interesting piece this evening on the coffee tastes of the presidential candidates. As serious coffee addict, I had to check it out…
DEMOCRATS:
New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Sometimes black, sometimes with cream
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: Doesn’t drink it
Illinois Sen. Barack Obama: Black, but rarely drinks it
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: Cream
REPUBLICANS:
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Splenda, Sweet’n Low or Equal, whichever is available
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: Splenda
Arizona Sen. John McCain: Cappuccino or coffee with cream and sugar
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: Doesn’t drink it, has been known to have hot chocolate
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson: Cream
Myself… my day must begin with a venti cup of drip coffee from Starbucks, with half-and-half. What really amuses me about this is that most of the answers were consistent. Most either like it black, with cream, or with sugar (or a sugar substitute)… and then there is Hillary who said she has her coffee sometimes black, and sometimes with cream.
Sounds like her ridiculous answer to Tim Russert’s question about which team she would root for if the Cubs and the Yankees ever met in the World Series. Hillary said, “I would probably have to alternate sides.”
It seems like this is another typical have-it-both-ways response from Hillary. Over something as trivial as a coffee preference.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Bill Richardson, coffee, Fred Thompson, John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani
December 12th, 2007
With Rudy Giuliani still maintaining a national lead for the GOP nomination, it has to be admited that there is at least an even money chance that he’ll wind up the GOP nominee for President. Giuliani brings various strengths to the ticket (national name recognition, 9/11 hero, clearly successful at being New York’s chief executive), but he also brings a major weakness - he’s to the left of the GOP base on social issues.
How this divergence works itself out in the political process will largely determine if Giuliani gets the GOP nomination - but what happens if Giuliani does win the nomination? What then? Hadley Arkes takes on that issue over at First Things, and concludes with the reason why pro-choice Rudy may yet capture the strong support of pro-life Republicans:
Before this article went to bed, I was writing that my own side, the pro-life side, should work hard to deliver the nomination either to Sam Brownback (who has been more fully on that side, in all its dimensions, than any of the other candidates) or to Mitt Romney (whose position on the pro-life side I take to be genuine). Now that Brownback has withdrawn from the race, the question is just which of the other candidates, apart from Romney, can actually explain the grounds of his pro-life position. So far, neither McCain nor Thompson has been able to do that. I would back Romney, then, as far as he can go, I would back any of the others as soon as they show that they are speaking more than by rote. If Giuliani became the nominee, and he genuinely wished to preserve the pro-life constituency within his party and his administration, he could select Brownback or Romney as his running mate. He could also offer the assurance that their perspective would have standing, would have a claim to bear on the policies of his new Republican administration.
Faced then with the possibility of a Democratic presidency determined to weave the ethic of abortion rights more firmly into our law and to have its judges install same-sex marriage, a Giuliani candidacy could offer some slender grounds of hope. Under those conditions, I might bite my lip, vote for him, and indulge those hopes. But they would be the hopes of the supplicants. And they will be affected at every point by the awareness of just who has the upper hand, and just who, in this party newly reshaped, does not matter all that much.
I’m a little more positive than that - Arkes’ position is essentially that the nomination of a pro-choice GOPer means the GOP has ceased to be the pro-life party; this is not something I agree with. If we GOPers decide to nominate Rudy, it will be because we want a man we can count on to win the War on Terrorism, secure our borders, keep taxes low and generally reassure us that the gains of the GOP over the past 25 years will be maintained and expanded - and that is where Giuliani’s assertion that he’ll select constructionist judges comes into play: Giuliani made that statement because, for all pratical purposes, we pro-lifers have won the argument and secured the GOP as the pro-life party. Were the GOP even slightly wishy-washy on the issue of life, Giuliani might well have just put out some sort of Clintonite “safe, legal, rare” pablum and left it at that. But, instead, Giuliani did what is required of any GOPer seeking the nomination - offer reassurance to the social conservative GOP base that whatever the personal views of the candidate, the GOP will continue to be the party in the fight on the right side as regards social issues.
Of course, Giuliani still has a long, hard road ahead of him to secure the nomination - and Christian conservatives are (a) much more politically savvy than they were even ten years ago and (b) will not sell out core principles for any reason whatsoever. Giuliani has done what he needs to become a real prospect, but in order to carry it to victory, he’s going to have to demonstrate that if he’s not on the exact side of the religious right, he’s at least not at all in the enemy camp on social issues. Picking Brownback as a VP nominee would be a good start, but wouldn’t in and of itself seal the deal.
Tags: 2008 Campaign, abortion, Rudy Giuliani
December 1st, 2007
Over at Real Clear Politics, they take note of a new Insider Advantage poll showing Huckabee rising from 8% support in October to 17% support in November; Giuliani still leads the GOP field, but has fallen from 33% support to 26%.
With Brownback out, Huckabee is the natural home of conservative Evangelical voters, and his rise in the Florida poll may be an indicator that the Evanglicals are gravitating to him. This doesn’t mean that Huckabee is about to sweep to the nomination, but it is the sort of thing which can keep him going at least until Super Tuesday even if he doesn’t win in Iowa and New Hampshire.
And that, in turn, brings up my basic theory about 2008 - there’s no way to tell what is really happening out there. Certainly, the big boys (and girl) in the race have the advantage, but that is mostly a money and name recognition advantage. There isn’t…well, its hard to put it, but there isn’t any “romance”, as it were, for any of the candidates. There isn’t a Reagan or a Kennedy, or even a Stevenson or a McGovern out there who is commanding diehard devotion from a large segment of the electorate.
As we know, in the primaries it doesn’t really matter what your national numbers are, but what your numbers are in the various State by State contests. Huckabee might be unknown to 75% of the American people, but if he ends up supported by 40% of the people in an early primary State (like Florida), that could be enough to propel him into the front ranks where, as a new face in a tired political field, he can light a fire if he can convey the right message at the right moment. On the Democrat side, there is also this possibility - though a lesser possibility as the second tier Democrats are mostly DC insiders, certainly one of the least popular class of people in the United States these days.
As I keep saying, get ready for a very interesting 2008 election.
Huckabee Website, Giuliani Website
Tags: 2008 Campaign, Christianity, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani
November 28th, 2007
