Hewitt - Whoaa Nellie! I didn't endorse or diss Rudy in the WeeklyStandard piece. I was reporting in this piece the reactions of one group of Republican activists. You should read the e-mails from Rudy-supporters and Rudy-haters alike. Wow. Rudy may have a 2nd Amendment problem as well as his right-to-life problem, but the noisy are not always the plurality. Allow me to share two other e-mails:
"Hugh: On a plane flight from Jacksonville to New York City on the Sunday before the GOP Convention, I sat next to a woman from Alabama who was a convention delegate. We spoke for most of the flight. She was pro-life, pro-second amendment, pro-school prayer--as rock-ribbed a conservative as you are likely to find. I asked her who she was supporting for President in 2008. Without a moment's hesitation, she replied, "Rudy." When I informed her that Rudy held views that were the opposite of the issues we had just
discussed, she replied, "None of that matters if we're dead. Rudy will keep
us safe." That's when I knew that Rudy can be the next GOP nominee."
And:
Hugh,
I just wanted to offer a brief response to your recent piece about Rudy Giuliani's presidential prospects in The Weekly Standard
As one of those rare New York City Republicans, I thought that our poster boy Rudy would not play well in a Republican primary in 2008, and would have an especially difficult time appealing to Southern voters with his stances on gun control, abortion, and gay rights. On a pre-election trip to Louisiana, however, I started talking politics with a good ol' boy from Louisiana who assumed that -as a New Yorker- I must be a raging liberal and Kerry-backer. When I informed him that I was a Republican, and that there are a fair amount of Giuliani Republicans like myself in New York, the man I was speaking with lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree and said, "You mean our next president! I love Rudy Giuliani!"
Granted this is an isolated incident, but I think it bears out a trend. The punditry seriously underestimates the bond that Giuiliani formed with the nation as a whole in the aftermath of 9/11. If a good ol' boy from Louisiana can enthusiastically back Giuliani, then I don't think there's any demographic that he can't win over. Not to mention that while Rudy can always "polish" his positions on guns and abortion, neither Bill Frist nor any other potential candidate can fake the attitude and ability that Giuliani demonstrated as mayor of New York.
So I wouldn't be surprised, as you note, to see Giuliani run away with the nomination in 2008.
- GWT"
and:
Hi Hugh,
I'm a regular reader of your blog & should have written to compliment you earlier -- you got me through Election Day! Also, btw, I contributed (more than once) to several Senate campaigns because of your recommendations. (HH note: Be still, my heart.)
I was prompted to write just now, though, by your column over at the Weekly Standard on the Riverside Republican women & Rudy Giuiliani.
I'm a long time Republican voter and a religious conservative and I've gotta say, I LOVE Giuliani. I'm already on his team also with this proviso: he's got to say some vaguely reassuring things about pro-life topics, including stem cell research, and social topics, such as gay marriage. I would like him to say he'll appoint judges who'll uphold the Constitution and not "legislate from the bench." I would not vote to put someone in power who would freeze conservatives, especially religious conservatives, and our concerns out of the White House.
As to why I'm so in favor of Giuliani: it was his convention speech, which I thought was the single most effective, inspiring, moving political speech I've heard in my lifetime (and I'm about your age and I LOVED Reagan.) I can't think of any other political figure on the scene right now from either party who could give that kind of speech. It was an amazing fusion of the political and the personal. It was effective politically -- he said the things, made the policy points he was supposed to make, but what was incomparable about it was how heartfelt it seemed. I'll never forget his demonstration of the bear hug he was given by the firefighter.
There are other good speakers out there, but Giuliani came across as a real person, talking from his heart, talking to us. My guess is that as media gets more informal -- blogs, cable TV, etc., that that characteristic or ability will be a real asset.
And, yes, he's got the guts to take on the Clintons and, purely from the point of view of political theater, it would be great to have the great Clinton-Giuliani shootout, interrupted in New York, play out on a national stage.
Keep up the good work,
Judith S____"
Now, look. I don't invent these things, I just report them. Despite the folks who denounce me as an "open borders," "anti-gun," "anti-Christian," I am just an evangelical, pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment Reagan conservative --how many of my critics spent six years in D.C. under the Gipper-- who understands that majorities matter, and who is interested in reporting the reality of American politics at this time and place, not what I'd like it to be. I Haven't endorsed Rudy, and I haven't endorsed McCain or Frist, and I haven't written off Owens or Pawlenty or anyone else (except mahbe Hagel.) But for the first time in a long time,there is no "front runner" for the presidency, or so I thought before my talk in Riverside. What my column suggested was that perhaps we scribblers are behind the curve, and that perhaps middle America decided on 9/11 that Rudy was going to be next in line, because, to quote the Alabama delegate above "None of that matters if we're dead."
Lots could happen, and there's four crucial years ahead behind the leadership of W. But political reporters don't serve their readers if they hide the ball. And the ball happens to be Rudy. |
