I guess we will find out.
When asked directly Wednesday if he still supported the use of public funding for abortions, Giuliani said “Yes.”
“If it would deprive someone of a constitutional right,” he explained, “If that’s the status of the law, yes.”
All of the reasonable caveats in the world (click the link for the rest) won’t nuance Rudy’s gaffe. For me, I don’t care that much about abortion as an issue. Mostly I figure that any politician who supports my primary issues* won’t screw up the abortion issue either. So far it has worked out pretty well. No doubt some liberals care more about abortion than anything, but I don’t know how many there are and it’s not like Edwards, Obama or Clinton will give them a compelling reason not to vote Democratic. I don’t see how much Rudy gains in return for jamming his thumb down hard on the most hardwired rightwing hot-button issue for most cultural conservatives.
Like all Pavlovian responses, abortion isn’t something that Rudy can reason away with these guys. Once they hear the magic words blockquoted here no speeches at Falwell’s wingnut university will bring them back.
(*) Was the environment, now it’s the US effing Constitution.
***
Amazingly, the rest of the bench looks even worse. The base detests John McCain. Why shouldn’t they? He tried to switch parties twice. Mitt Romney’s flip-flops make John Kerry look like John Adams. Brownback has no traction, Huckabee has no money and nobody else has declared yet. Honestly, it’s no wonder that Republican donors sat on their hands this year. If the only thing you get for your money is a few feathers on the guy about to be tossed in the volcano, why bother?
***Update***
I have been informed that Joe Biden and Tom Tancredo are also running for president. Huh.
jg
The guy who says its ok for the president to lock up US citizens indefinately and without review feels restricting abortion might infringe on rights?
UberMitch
nobody else has declared yet
Tancredo declared, dump on him too. It’ll be fun.
Fed up!
Guliani getting this out of the way may help him. It may appeal to more independents who aren’t in lock-step with McCain or Romney. This is really interesting. Before you can say Guliani is done from this, I would wait to see what goes on. I think this could help him. I hope I’m wrong.
Fed up!
Guliani is an authoritarian. They like strong “stick it to ’em” thought than they care about their own positions.
John Cole
The answer to the question posed in the title is:
“No.”
srv
So far, this is what the republicans have:
McCain – I’m the anti-triangulation candidate
Rudy – I’m alot like Hillary, but I wear pants
Mitt – I’m not sure what I believe, but it isn’t what I used to
Can Hillary still lose against all this? Probably.
Fed up!
I agree with John Cole and Tim F. But that won’t happen.
Tsulagi
Okay, Rudy has his issues, but I give him big points for that answer. Could be a good example to McCain and the others wearing their Dobson kneepads. But of course they’ll keep their pads on.
How soon before the hate-Hollywood Jesus voters really start praying for Fred Thompson to enter the race and tell them what they want to hear?
Tsulagi
Umm, not always. His Dolly Parton outfit and makeup likely connects with a sizeable segment of Republican voters.
Maybe that’s his plan. He’s trading in Jesus for Dolly.
Dan Lewis
Rudy’s statement was very carefully couched in terms of the current state of the law.
Reading between the lines, he left open the door to appointing judges who will overturn the status quo and rewrite the “constitutional right” to abortion. That’s why Rudy also reiterated his personal opposition to abortion. The clever reporters should ask if that’s what he would do if he were elected president.
CaseyL
Giuliani’s the most dangerous candidate they have so far, because a lot of people still like him for his profile of courage on 9/11, he got credit for “cleaning up New York” (even though Ben Bratton did the heavy lifting on that), and he doesn’t have a history of being a crazy wingnut Bible thumper. Authoritarianism and defending police shootings of unarmed black people are not, unfortunately, issues that loom large on the general electorate’s radar. Links to organized crime might be, though.
Fred Thompson might also be dangerous, because some people will confuse him with his acting roles: Tough Goodguy. It’ll be interesting to see how he comes across when he’s supposed to be himself, since he has a very RW and Bush-enabling voting record.
The rest of the field are non-starters out of the gate, no matter who the Democrats nominate.
Pooh
What’s a brain cloud?
Otto Man
A.: Their panties in a wad over non-Republicans visiting Syria and wearing head scarves.
Krista
Hell, some of Fred Thompson’s filmography alone gives one food for thought:
No Way Out (of the Iraqi clusterfuck)
Fat Man and Little Boy (in honour of Foley, obviously)
The Hunt for Red October (that’s why they haven’t found Osama – they’re too busy hunting for prettily tinted months)
Die Hard 2: Die Harder (yeah, waterboarding would qualify)
Class Action (wait for it…)
Necessary Roughness (ahem)
Born Yesterday (an homage to anybody who bought the “compassionate conservatism” line)
Barbarians at the Gate (the new Republican euphemism for illegal immigration)
Baby’s Day Out (as long as said Baby’s mother can afford daycare, otherwise Baby will have to keep his diapered ass home, with a now-unemployed Mommy caring for him)
Celsius 41.11 (Removed from list — what global warming?)
Last Best Chance (For the Republicans to not completely self-destruct)
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (no comment)
jake
P.O.T.D. Krista.
Luke
The problem with that question is that it supposes that the Fundigelical wing of the party would rather enable Hillary/Obama winning than electing Rudy.
I know that the counterweight on the Dems side Lesbian Jewish Midwives to save the Whales, would likely show up to vote for Ben Nelson if it meant White House-blocking, oh, Chuck Hagel.
Then again, this supposes that the Fundigelical wing is spiteful–oh, it is–but is it rational enough to guess this? Maybe not. Though a woman or a black man in power is a powerful motivator to swallow some terrible stuff.
And yet, all I can do is play “Barack Obama’s Shadow Cabinet” based on Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals.” [I think Edwards is staying in the race to get to the Convention and offer his supporters in exchange for, say, being Attorney General]
Rome Again
Can I have that for $1000 Alex?
Rome Again
Really, the sad part is it does, we’ll be stuck with one party rule, and that won’t work “neither”!
Chad N. Freude
Yesbut. That kind of subtlety will be lost on the Base. Come to think of it, any kind of subtlety will be lost on the Base.
I think a smart Repug candidate would campaign on a platform of ending the war the day he’s sworn in. Running as the anti-Bush would make him popular with some fraction of the majority. It would be fun to see what would happen in the primaries.
AkaDad
I second the nomination…
jake
Yep. We’re talking about people who tried to make providing an abortion a capital crime and in extreme cases have acted as self-appointed executioners. These people don’t want to think. They don’t want nuance (sounds French). They want:
LIFE IS PRECIOUS ABORTION IS MURDER ANYONE WHO EVEN THINKS “ABORTION” WILL BE CHOPPED UP AND MADE INTO MEATLOAF AND FED TO DOGS BARK BARK BARK MOO GIBBER GET THESE BITCHES BACK INTO THE KITCHEN OH SHIT I SAID ABORTION SOMEONE KILL ME [Flecks o’ spittle fly]!!!
Rudy may think he is giving Das Base a sly wink but he’s catapulting the propoganda right over their heads.
Andrew
I’d say it’s likely that Guliani wears pants less often than Hillary.
I actually have this… and you can get your copy for free too!
Zifnab
I think Guiliani is rolling the dice on this one, on the assumption that people honestly don’t give two flips about abortion when the Republican Presidency is on the line. He’s playing the “who the hell else are you going to vote for” card, which is always fun to watch a fundie swallow.
That’s right, Dobson. You want to throw all your water-weight at Mitt “the Mormon” Romney? Screw your old white ass! You just kicked the door wide open for some old fashioned Clinton-style triangulation. The majority of America is ok with abortion, after all? Then that’s what I’m running on.
AkaDad
I’m willing to put aside my most sacred beliefs if it means denying a liberal Democrat the Presidency.
[/Rush Limbaugh listener]
Pb
And a host of others: Mike Huckabee, Chris Dodd, Duncan Hunter, Dennis Kucinich, blah blah etc. etc. Zzzz…
jake
Don’t overlook everyone’s favourite Dick (courtesy of CBR).
Warning. This will make you laugh. Or cry. Or vomit.
The Other Steve
You forgot Tommy Thompson has announced.
Punchy
A very, very tragic miscalculation. No, they’ll just not vote. Period. Fundies don’t play that game of “best of” shit. They just stay home, read the Bible, and curse at gays and Jews.
CaseyL
One can but hope.
Especially if they “just stay home” – out of politics, and off-line – for the next, oh, 60 years.
craigie
Who?
Andrew
Just like Orthodox Jews!
Chad N. Freude
Fixed.
Chad N. Freude
I like him on Lawn Ordure. His diction makes him very convincing as a New York District Attorney.
jenniebee
You’d think they could have thought of something better than a “brain cloud.”
Rusty Shackleford
Tommy Thompson announcing for President had to cause some indigestion over in the Fred Thompson camp (I’m looking at you Chris Matthews). People dumb enough to vote for Fred are dumb enough to be confused by two Thompsons on the same ballot.
Punchy
Fixed.
annie's granny
Hey, Rudy may just be a simple hyperchicken from a backwoods asteroid, but he understands that once someone has died of an ectopic pregnancy because a pack of home-schooled bible thumpers decided that her life was less valuable than that of a clump of differentiated cells the size of a cranberry, further trampling her civil liberties in the name of homeland security becomes a mite tricky.
Fecapult
Isn’t the rapture supposed to happen earlier than this? I mean, speaking from a creationist standpoint, that puts us only 1/2 way to the end of days…
Cyrus
Yes and no. More from the TPM link:
Even if the first sentence and a half of that bit was preceded by him whispering his defiance, “according to current Constitutional law!” like another famous Italian, the bit about “I don’t think society should…” is even harder to interpret as being anti-abortion.
That is the problem. Today’s statement is consistent with what he said a month ago or whenever it was about just how much he hates abortion even though it is constitutional and oh, by the way, a propos of nothing, he would appoint judges like Scalia. Give him credit for being consistent on abortion, even if he’s not coming right out and saying it: he knows abortion is constitutional, he just doesn’t care. That puts him markedly to the left of the 28-percenters, but still markedly to the right of any Democratic candidates.
The Other Steve
Agreed. I don’t know how well Tommy would do in Iowa, but he was a very popular governor in Wisconsin.
The question will be how does he run. Does he run from Bush? Like a Hagel, against the war, and against the Bush stupid policies. Or does he embrace Bush with the gusto of a McCain?
I’m going to guess he’s more like Hagel. Just based upon the midwest mindset and what I know of him in Wisconsin.
grumpy realist
We seem to have two types of politicians in in the Midwest–moderate, bipartisan, and reasonable–or barking mad (e.g. Alan Keyes.) And wasn’t McKinney from around here as well? (I put her in category 2.)
Tom in Texas
I think Hillary wears pants a lot more often than Rudy does.
Tom in Texas
Damn I was late to that party. Sorry.
Baby Jane
I’m not counting the GOP out. They could still tap Sanjaya.
Chad N. Freude
I was thinking of real-physical-universe time, not time in the Tim LaHayeverse.
Tom Hilton
Cheney would be the automatic frontrunner. The 27 percenters love him…plus, their primary motivation is pissing off liberals, which is how they would see voting for Cheney. That could well be enough to give him the nomination, if he ran.
That would be awesome.
Randolph Fritz
Like just about any women who has had one, or might have one, or any man or woman whose daughter has been injured or died as a result of abortion restriction.
You can only write that because you’re a guy, guy.