OPINION & EDITORIAL
Giuliani, who are you kidding?
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Also by Gerald Cox:
- I'll take a female president, just not her (December 3, 2007)
- Religion aside, faith perseveres (November 26, 2007)
- Want Big Ten sports? Get a dish (November 19, 2007)
- Civil rights movement needs 'Black-In' (November 12, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Giuliani's impact on NYC overrated (October 23, 2007)
- Giuliani right for president (February 8, 2007)
- '08 hopefuls test political climate (November 15, 2006)
- Minority issues crucial for GOP candidates (October 2, 2007)
- Presidential race crazier than ever (February 19, 2007)
by Gerald Cox
Monday, November 5, 2007
Republican primary voters: Want to do Democrats a favor in
next year’s presidential election? Nominate the Republican frontrunner. If
polls conducted by Newsweek, ABC News, The Washington Post, Pew Research and
Fox News are to be believed, that man is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
As wonderful as Mr. Giuliani looked on camera, and as brave as he seemed when
our country suffered its most devastating loss in a generation, he has about
the same chance of being elected as this country’s next president as I have of
being elected the chair of the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy. In a
word: none.
While some would say that a certain Democratic frontrunner’s
campaign could be characterized by the title of his book, “The Audacity of Hope,”
Mr. Giuliani’s campaign and frontrunner supremacy can best be described as the
“Audacity of Hopelessness.” Should Republican voters somehow give Mr. Giuliani
the nod in the primaries, American voters will give him the boot in the general
election.
You see, American voters are aware that Mr. Giuliani is
about as prepared to be our president as Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz is
prepared to be our ambassador to the United Nations. No offense to our mayor —
after all, he had the sense to back off the trolley idea — but I’m sure Mr.
Cieslewicz is well aware of his limits. Mr. Giuliani, however, is not.
Worst yet, neither are Republican voters. As the
aforementioned polls indicate, Republicans seem to consider Mr. Giuliani aptly
prepared to lead their country and somehow seem to believe that his liberal
social views are in line with the conservative values often associated with the
right. Unfortunately, and seemingly surprisingly, for the Republican right, Mr.
Giuliani is as much a social conservative as Oprah Winfrey is an introvert.
On the conservative base’s most important social issues, Mr.
Giuliani takes a liberal approach. Mr. Giuliani, while staunchly defending the
traditional definition of marriage, supports civil unions. While some would
call that moderate, many conservatives would call that heretical. On abortion,
Mr. Giuliani has admitted that he is “personally opposed to abortion.” However,
to the consternation of conservative voters, he would rather leave such a
decision to the mother rather than to the state. Liberals would call that
agreeable, conservative voters would call that liberal.
Mr. Giuliani begins to sound much like a Democrat when he
speaks on social issues. And why vote for a Democrat like Mr. Giuliani when you
can vote for real Democrats like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton?
Mr. Giuliani’s Clintonian approach to social issues will
cripple the Republican base’s enthusiasm. After a Republican presidency that
has left fiscal conservatives frustrated and unsure of where their loyalties
lie, the Republican base may be the GOP’s only hope. Considering Mr. Giuliani’s
liberal social views, the Republican base may sit this election out if he wins
the nomination.
Nominating Mr. Giuliani is the electoral equivalent of
hoisting a white flag. A Giuliani candidacy effectively does away with the
Republican Party’s traditional conservative support and will force the GOP to
convince traditional Republicans to vote for their candidate. A Giuliani
candidacy would have to court undecided voters while simultaneously reassuring
the remnants of its base that haven’t jumped ship that Mr. Giuliani is worthy
of their support. Assuming Mr. Giuliani can somehow convince these social-issue
Republicans that he is the best conservative choice, he stands little chance of
victory when compared with the more experienced Democratic candidates.
Mr. Giuliani’s résumé indicates a startling paucity of
experience at a national level. His solid track record as mayor of New York and
his leadership in the wake of 9/11 has made him a household name. But for what?
The crime rate reductions during his time as mayor started before he took
office, and Mr. Giuliani’s biggest claim to fame is that the city of which he was
mayor was ruthlessly attacked, thus allowing him incredible national exposure.
If Chicago had been attacked instead of New York, the Giuliani presidential
campaign would not exist.
American voters will eventually realize that Mr. Giuliani’s
numerous television experiences have not made him any more capable of being president
than before New York City was attacked. His national experience pales even to
that most inexperienced of presidential frontrunners — Mr. Obama. When you have
less experience than Mr. Obama and less than half of his charisma, it might be
time to run for a senatorial seat, not the presidency.
So do your Democratic rivals a favor, Republicans. Nominate
your frontrunner. A Giuliani candidacy would leave the Republican Party a house
divided, with an ill-prepared, inexperienced former mayor at its head. Do so,
and watch as your base stays home on election days, and undecided voters decide
to go with Democratic candidates who have real experience that translates well
to presidential wherewithal. Do so, and watch as a disgruntled and bipartisan
public shuns your candidate by voting against him, or not for him at all.
As if Democrats need any more help with this election.
Gerald Cox (gcox@badgerherald.com) is a
senior majoring in economics.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 9:02am):
ON all but two or three issues Giuliani is so far to the right he makes George Bush and Karl Rove look like liberals. You need to do serious fact checking on that. Also, being mayor of NYC is more difficult than being governor of most US states, with one or two exceptions. If the Governor of Arkansas is qualified, then the Mayor of NY easily is. Thirdly, Rudy Giuliani was one of the most successful prosecutors in the entire history of the human race. Fourthly, Rudy Giuliani has two video clips in hand that are going to fire up the American people like no other - him throwing Arafat out of NYC, and him giving the Saudi Prince back his ten million dolar check.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 9:26am):
"Nominating Mr. Giuliani is the electoral equivalent of hoisting a white flag."
I think we should not use this phrase [white flag] in today's racially charged environment. If you do choose to use it, expect to be black-balled.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 10:16am):
"...he has about the same chance of being elected as this country's next president as I have of being elected the chair of the Sons and Daughters of the Confederacy."
Made my morning. Good article, Gerald.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 11:37am):
Gerald, too bad you have a gf. Because your article is fantastic -- they all are, actually. Keep up the good fight... and I'll keep searching for a clone of you.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 11:50am):
A few good points, but poorly written Gerald. I'm assuming you wrote this in about 20 minutes since you tend to repeat yourself over and over throughout.
Rudy's stance on social issues may keep the extreme right at home on election day, but his ridiculous stance on Iraq and his status as "President of 9/11" will swing most independents over to the Dems, especially considering his so-called 9/11 experience is a complete farce.
That should have been your focus -- is colossal screw-ups on 9/11.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 12:03pm):
this column is extremely flawed and completely ignores a lot of well-known relevant information on the topic...
for one, a recent quinnipiac university poll (which was one of the most accurate in '04) shows giuliani beating dem front runner clinton, albeit by a slim margin (2%). still, that hardly suggests that rudy is a white flag!
you write that "Mr. Giuliani begins to sound much like a Democrat when he speaks on social issues." and interpret it exclusively as a weakness. who's to say that this won't serve to his benefit in courting moderates? you need to use a little logical rigor in drawing conclusions. consider counter-arguments from time to time.
Also, you cite that "Mr. Giuliani's...startling paucity of experience at a national level." as a weakness, yet don't at all engage his well-known contention that dem frontrunners have an equally "startling paucity" of executive experience.
A good columnist anticipates and accounts for these sorts of responses. do more research/thinking.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 12:08pm):
Giuliani is a dangerous man. He has unlimited ambition and will say anything and do anything for power. He is a professional scam artist and will just bleed the country dry for his own gain once elected. Avoid at all costs.. vote for anybody but him.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 12:18pm):
9:02
1) Giuliani did not throw Arafat out of NYC, he threw him out of a UN concert (for not having a ticket, apparently).
2) Instead of taking $10 M from the Saudis, we'd prefer to pay them billions in oil money instead. It seems like he has his priorities and principles straight.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 1:38pm):
) Giuliani did not throw Arafat out of NYC, he threw him out of a UN concert (for not having a ticket, apparently).
When the clip of Giuliani tossing Arafat is played against the clip of Hillary kissing and hugging Arafat's wife, the election will be over. Believe it. If you don't believe that, do a little research about who Marc Rich is, how Giuliani indicted him in 1983, and what Bill Clinton did with him, and tell us how you think Hillary will twist when Giuliani drops that bomb on her head.
cxb cxb (November 5, 2007 @ 1:51pm):
1.
Giuliani is more corrupt than ALL the other crooks combined. I can list over 40,000 DIFFERENT scandals, on any topic you'd like.
2.
Not ONE of the "good" things you've ever heard about Rudy are true. EX: crime went UP while he was mayor, but Rudy is a pro at cooking books like his corporate pals (Enron, Purdue Pharmaceuticals)... why do you think WorldCom and the rest hire Giuliani Partners to help keep em outta jail? Rudy's tough on criminals, yeah?
Rudy faked the welfare stats, street cleanliness stats, all his 9/11 lies, and on and on.
PLEASE DO YOUR HOMEWORK people.
Yeah, Rudy has about as much chance as that failed criminal Dubya Bush has of getting elected twice.
3.
If you want DETAILS of supercriminal Rudy (aka HIllary in drag) visit
GiulianiSCANDALS.blogspot.com
or
hesnoaltarboy.com
The man is maybe the biggest criminal to ever run for office and he cannot lose b/c all the corporations are behind him.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 2:32pm):
Without name recognition, Giuliani and Clinton would be minor players in this race (as Bush would have been in 2000).
However, if Hillary vows to install a similar administration as her husband's, I would see that as a clear advantage.
Afterall, the president doesn't necessarily need to have "personal experience," but they do need to select cabinet members and advisors who do. This was seen as Bush's ultimate advantage in 2000 and 2004, but we know now that his most experienced advisors (like Colin Powell) were marginalized and ignored.
As for the inevitable argument about corruption (i.e. Sandy Berger's sock), show me a spotless presidency.
Anonymous (November 5, 2007 @ 3:45pm):
12:08--I think you meant "Clinton" not "Giuliani"
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