Rudy Giuliani: I can beat Hillary Clinton
By Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph in Stanhope, Iowa
8/8/2007
Lambasting Democrats for having "embraced defeat" in Iraq, Rudy Giuliani is declaring himself the Republican who will keep America on the offensive against Radical Islam and stop Hillary Clinton from capturing the White House in 2008.
The former New York mayor, still lauded in the America heartlands for his performance after the September 11 attacks, told The Daily Telegraph that he believed Mrs Clinton would choose Barack Obama as her running mate.
"I think it's going to be a Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama ticket," he said during a campaign stop at Sparky's One Stop, a gas station in the town of Stanhope (population 488), on a sweltering day in rural Iowa.
"They will run together because Barack Obama has had such a good showing and it's going to be very hard for her to deny him a place on the ticket."
But although many Democrats view a "dream ticket" of the aspiring first woman president and the first black vice-presidential candidate as unbeatable, Mr Giuliani predicted that he could do it.
Mr Giuliani leads the field of Republican contenders for the presidential nomination despite his moderate positions on abortion and gay marriage.
Although Democrats enjoy a lead as a party over Republicans in national opinion polls, Mrs Clinton is only about five percentage points ahead of the former mayor when voters are asked who they would prefer as president.
Republican voters dread the prospect of another Clinton presidency and Mr Giuliani often brings up her name.
Inside Sparky’s, Polly Hayes pushed forward her daughter of 18, declaring: "Here’s a new voter – I’m trying to get her to be a conservative instead of a tree hugger.”
Mr Giuliani laughed. "Even Hillary wouldn’t admit she’s a liberal," he said, referring to a recent comment by Mrs Clinton in which the Democratic frontrunner disavowed the label and said she was a "modern progressive".
Democrats would lose in 2008, Mr Giuliani told a crowd of about 60, because they were invested in defeat in Iraq.
"The leading Democrats have embraced defeat. About a month ago, they decided we've got to pull out of Iraq. When have you ever heard in the history of war of giving the enemy a timetable of retreat?"
Although he railed against the Democrats plans for socialized medicine and "big, big government" and high taxes, his persistent theme was that he had proved that he would confront terrorism.
Mr Giuliani told The Daily Telegraph that his moderate positions on social issues made him competitive with Democrats across the country, while for Republican voters winning the war on terror trumped everything.
"If you want to defeat Hillary Clinton, I would be the best person to do that because I can make this campaign nationwide.
We have a chance of winning in New York, New England and in California and Oregon - these are states where Republicans haven't even had a campaign for a long time."
Locals said Mr Giuliani was the first candidate to stop at Stanhope – quite a feat in a state in which the early caucuses are the first White House test and is therefore subjected to saturation campaigning.
Giuliani aides bought ice cream for children and Mrs Hayes said she was impressed that the candidate bought his own large soda.
"A lot of them don't care about the little people - they walk out the door without paying," she said.
Her husband Roger, 45, said Mr Giuliani was right that social issues were not paramount.
"Abortion, when it comes up I'm like, where's the remote? Morally, ethically, yes I'm a Catholic but politically it doesn't matter to me.
"I want to know about defense, bridge and highway maintenance and what to do in Iraq."
But could Mr Giuliani win? Stanhope's deputy sheriff Paul Whitmore said "President Hillary Clinton? That's a scary thought." |
