OPINION & EDITORIAL
Giuliani right for president
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Also by Will Smith:
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- Deregulation of campaigns vital (March 29, 2007)
- Israel right to reject Hamas government (March 22, 2007)
- Gore good choice for nomination (March 15, 2007)
- Prosecutor tarnishes Libby, justice system (March 8, 2007)
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- Giuliani's impact on NYC overrated (October 23, 2007)
- GOP voters might 'heart' Huckabee (November 6, 2007)
by Will Smith
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has what it takes to win the presidency in the 2008 general election, but does he have what it takes to become the Republican nominee? The challenge is to convince Republicans they must select a candidate who can win the general election and govern successfully. Like my article three weeks ago endorsing Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., for the Democratic nomination, I will once again focus on why our political parties must reject presidential candidates from the Senate, focusing instead on candidates with executive experience, a successful record of accomplishment and crossover appeal.
Mayor Giuliani's track record as mayor of New York City is remarkable. Under his leadership, crime was cut 57 percent; murder was reduced 65 percent; and the Big Apple, once notorious for crime, is now the nation's safest large city. His aggressive promotion of welfare-to-work programs allowed 640,000 residents to return to self-sufficiency. Mayor Giuliani cut taxes while simultaneously turning a $2.3 billion deficit into a multi-billion dollar surplus, ushering in an era of private sector growth as 450,000 new private sector jobs were added in seven years. During his tenure, education funding increased 50 percent, allowing 13,000 new teachers to be hired. His executive experience is exemplary, as he brought innovative solutions to a broken city, restoring it to its rightful place as one of the world's greatest.
Then, of course, there is Sept. 11, 2001. No discussion of Rudy Giuliani is complete without mentioning his tremendous leadership in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. The city's brand-new emergency command center at 7 World Trade Center was evacuated and then collapsed as a result of the attack. Mayor Giuliani orchestrated an on-the-fly rescue operation and worked without sleep for three days to restore order to the city. His calm and strong demeanor comforted the city's residents during press conferences, as he boldly declared that New York City would not only survive the attack, but return stronger. To those living in the New York or Washington, D.C., areas at the time of the attacks, Giuliani's greatest gift was his strength and vision that enabled us to survive and cope.
Yet as we enter the 2008 primary campaign season, Rudy Giuliani is said to have major liabilities as judged by the right wing of his own party. He has been labeled a "social liberal," which could kill his chances in the Iowa caucus or early Southern primaries. But let's examine the record. Mayor Giuliani is unapologetically pro-choice and favors civil unions. Yet this position reflects that of the majority of both Republicans and Americans. There is his personal life, ostensibly atypical for a Republican candidate, as his three marriages dominated the New York tabloids for years. But then, the hero and savior of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan, was divorced and not a regular at church.
As the icon of post-Sept. 11 strength, he has the most favorable positioning on national security and is a staunch supporter of President Bush's war on terror. Unlike Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Giuliani does not identify with the largely unpopular troop "surge" currently dominating the Iraq debate. Indeed, he is the only candidate in either party with domestic crisis experience, another asset after the botched response to Hurricane Katrina. He has stated that he will nominate Supreme Court justices in the mold of John Roberts and Sam Alito, who are wildly popular among almost all Republicans. And how many other Republicans can defeat Hillary Clinton to win New York's 31 electoral votes?
Giuliani, unlike Republican senators vying for the nomination such as John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sam Brownback, R-Kan., has not cast thousands of congressional votes over the years that can be used as ammunition by opposing candidates and interest groups. Also, unlike all senators running for the presidency, Giuliani has executive experience managing a complex city with a population greater than 38 states. He is a decision maker who will not need on-the-job training.
While Christian leaders have declared Giuliani unelectable, this may be wishful thinking. After all, Giuliani has the ability to attract substantial crossover votes, just as Ronald Reagan did in 1980. He is a personality America connects with, and he is comfortable in his own skin — he even once played a drag queen at a party. Importantly, he commands the greatest likeability of any candidate in either party, with approximately 65 percent of those polled indicating a favorable impression. Compare that to Hillary's likeability and any Republican should warm to his candidacy.
As Giuliani separates himself from McCain as the front-runner for the nomination, the religious right must stop applying rigid litmus tests regarding abortion and civil unions, and instead embrace the candidate with the best shot of defeating the Democrats in 2008. Giuliani may not be a cookie-cutter Republican candidate, but he has unmatched leadership experience, crucial at this juncture in American politics. He is a classic New Yorker: He tells you what he thinks, and he does not apologize for it. Voters will have to accept Giuliani at face value and, given his credentials, what more could we ask for?
Will Smith (wsmith@badgerherald.com) is a freshman majoring in political science and religious studies.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 6:27am):
Hi, I'm an NYC resident, and I came across your article. Your assessment of Giuliani is flawed in several ways, mainly because it is based on the misperceptions held by many admirers who didn't live through Giuliani's reign here :
Yes, the Giuliani years were marked by a drop in crime, and he is rightly given credit for having a big hand in this. But he also targeted black and Latino youth, oftentimes inappropriately, earning well-deserved animosity in areas of the city where tourists don't go. He also publicly justified police killings of unarmed innocents. Giuliani had turned the city into a hotbed of racial tension by the end of his term.
Giuliani's combative response to the killings of Amadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismand highlighted qualities that will come out quickly if the former New York mayor runs for president -- he is petty and vindictive, and is willing to trample the legitimate rights of his constituents to "win" whatever fight he has taken on. His record on the first amendment is the best illustration of this, as when he tried to cut public funding to the Brooklyn Museum for running an art exhibit he found offensive. But the examples here are countless.
Giuliani's performance in the days after 9/11 was heady, yes, but even here his record is hardly unflawed. Years before 9/11, Giuliani decided to build a high tech anti-terror command center. Skeptics questioned the wisdom of Giuliani's plan to put it in a building at the World Trade Center, an obvious terrorist target (one that, in fact, had been attacked in 1993). He scoffed at them, and built it anyway. The city's response was hindered when the high-tech command center was destroyed on the morning of September 11, 2001.
Most New Yorkers today would tell you that the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is a disgrace. Giuliani, clearly, cannot be blamed for this since he left office soon after the attacks. But he does deserve criticism for setting up a rebuilding plan that left his sucessor without the power to control the process because it looked like a political adversary would become mayor. New York State government, famously incompetent at whatever task it takes, on, was handed control. No real progress on construction, five and a half years later. Again, petty and vindictive.
Your assessment of Giuliani's tax cutting, surplus creating successes are factually inaccurate. Yes, Giuliani cut taxes and increased services when the Wall Street boom filled city coffers. Budget watchdogs uninanimously condemned the idea. They now agree that he is largely to blame for the record deficits -- record deficits, not surpluses -- that came one year after he left office. Property taxes were raised, and services were cut, in part because Giuliani chose political expediency over fiscal responsibility. Hardly the trait of a good president.
Giuliani was considered politically dead in New York before 9/11. This was due largely to his disregard for the civil rights of the city's minorities and the first amendment of all New Yorkers. His own personal behavior didn't help much, either, as when he announced that he was getting divorced and moving in with his girlfriend at a televised press conference -- before telling his wife in private! This is the kind of baggage that will not play well on a national scale.
Giuliani's image has improved due to 9/11, but it will be tarnished again when brought under a national spotlight. As for him winning New York against Clinton, well, Giuliani faced Clinton in 2000. He was so far behind that he dropped out. This was seven years ago when Clinton was seen as a carpet-bagging liberal. Now the senator is enormously popular, not just in Democratic New York City but also in Republican regions upstate.
So I don't think Giuliani (or any other Republican) will beat Clinton (or any other Democrat) here. And if that means that Giuliani doesn't become president, it's for the best.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 7:45am):
6:27, I'm guessing your identity to be John Kerry based on the length of your comment.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 7:59am):
anon@6:27,
Thank you. My family in NYC shared the same sentiments as you. Glad to hear this is corroborated.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 9:51am):
Agreed. Giuliani doesn't deserve all the accolades he's gotten. The media helped him look more positive in the eyes of the country and New York City, but it was all show. He'll need more than just good face to win the presidency.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 10:16am):
I am a NYC resident and lost my job on 9/11. I was at ground zero all that morning and saw Rudy in person- covered with concrete dust- dealing with the crisis. I would walk through broken glass to vote for this man.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 11:42am):
Your assessment of Giuliani is flawed on one basic fact. Giuliani is a Republican and therefore would screw this country up even more. I don't think anyone wants the war in Iraq to last until 2013 or 2017. Well, maybe some conservatives do. Nothing like helping murder 3000 soldiers and counting by voting for GOP candidates.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 12:56pm):
Giuliani is no hero. He uses 9-11 for political gain. He made millions out of 9-11. if it weren't for 9-11, he wouldn't be where he is today. 9-11 was like a blessing to him. What about those past business dealings he had? Especially the Kerik scandal.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 12:58pm):
Giuliani should have not declared this soon. Now he'll have to answer questions regarding his solution to the war in Iraq; before, he could have stayed under the radar until events played out with the president's surge.
As a Democrat, I'm looking at the Republicans for a possible protest vote in 2008. In 2006, we elected the Democrats to do what the Republican congress could not; so far, debate about debating the war in Iraq is as far as we've come.
Giuliani will get my vote if Hillary and Obama don't start acting upon the 2006 election mandate. Giuliani also has to keep away from the Christian Right. McCain is no longer viable to me because he's been affected by Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 12:59pm):
Here's another side of Giuliani.
He talks to lions in the zoo and gets angry at a zookeeper for not releasing a lion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq5YGHQNHDU&mode=related&search=
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 1:55pm):
Who would know better about Giuliani's qualifications for president than the voters of New York City?
According to a recent poll, those voters would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than Rudy Giuliani.
Since even many Democrats don't like Hillary, that would seem to indicate that Rudy is not fit to be president.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 2:52pm):
Why is this the second best column of the day? There are 2 columns below this that are incredibly pertinent to students and the city of Madison.
Giuliani hasn't even competed in a primary yet! C'mon Badger Herald, you can do better than this.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 5:28pm):
2:52, yeah, you're right, the next president will affect us very little... unless the next president wants to tap state universities for the military.
Anonymous (February 8, 2007 @ 5:30pm):
mr rudy is best bet for the job not only that he is the wish of all terrorist not to be the president so be a american and stand by mr right
Anonymous (February 9, 2007 @ 8:34am):
Who would you rather have Madame President Hillary Clinton or President Rudy Giuliani to be our leader in the continuing War on Terror? Given his track record in New York I would rather have RUDY!!
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