In an op-ed published by The Boston Herald, radio talk show host Michael Graham (WTKK 96.9 FM) argues that Rudy is bulletproof because national security trumps all other issues in 2008:
Set aside Rudy’s two wins in liberal New York City. Set aside his inspiring performance as mayor on and after 9/11. Set aside the fact that he’s literally on a first-name basis with every voter in America.
Set all that aside, and still this fact remains: If there is another serious, successful terrorist attack between now and the national conventions, the only question about 2008 will be whether the Democrats nominate Giuliani, too. …
Is he pro-choice? Is he pro-gay? Who cares? He’s pro-kick-terrorist-butt, and he’s tough enough to do it. [Emphasis, The Stiletto’s.]
About a month ago, Newsday columnist and Fox News pundit Jim Pinkerton made the same point, albeit a bit more soberly:
It’s hard to imagine that a President Giuliani, for instance, would have let Osama bin Laden slip away back in 2001, or let the Iraq war drag out for all these years, with our military so ill equipped. Giuliani is that rare political combination: moderate ideologically, but not mushy personally. He has the hard edge of an ideologue, but not the rigidity or extremism.
Rudy is “the most unlikely Republican presidential front-runner we’ve seen in a long time … seem[ing] to represent everything Republicans deplore,” says Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steve Huntley. And he notes that it’s not just social conservatives who are baffled by Rudy’s staying power:
Giuliani’s continued prominence in the polls particularly confounds liberal pundits and their cartoonish stereotypes of conservatives. Just wait, they keep saying, social conservatives and evangelicals will see the light when they learn about Giuliani’s libertarian views on social issues. …
The liberal pontificating class, like Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, harbors deep doubts about the war on terror, so they are handicapped in seeing how it trumps abortion as a priority issue with so many Red Staters. The latest polling from the Pew Research Center shows that 43 percent of GOP voters consider abortion very important, vs. 77 percent who think terrorism is. …
Which is why many social conservatives – The Stiletto amongst them – are cutting Rudy some slack.
John McCain no doubt has agita over Rudy catching a break with a significant percentage of the conservative base on abortion, guns and gays, while he is getting whacked over illegal immigration, campaign finance reform and high-pressure interrogation of terrorists (which he terms “torture”). For her part, Hillary must be losing sleep over Rudy getting a pass on three contentious issues, while the hard left base of her party is giving her all kinds of grief on just one.
Have PoliticalMavens.com delivered to your inbox in a daily digest by clicking here
