Rudy on Immigration and Judges

Continuing to prove that he's not just a Republican, but a conservative, Rudy has made known his positions on two more important issues to GOP primary voters, immigration and judges.

From National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez, a vocal Romney supporter, comes this positive assessment of a Rudy speech:

A friend of mine was at a fundraiser for Rudy Giuliani in Los Angeles last night. His walkaway thought: “[Rudy] might have a tough time in the primary but he will crush in the general.”

Said friend says of last night: “I have to tell you the man is very impressive. When he talks about the war on terror he does so more clearly than anyone I have heard including the President. He doesn't bash the President ever and this was LA where he could really get away with it.”

Rudy did an immigration bit that was “to the right of everyone else except maybe Tancredo. He talked about immigration in terms of national security. He said we needed to revamp our entire system so that we can get good people. He also said that if the twelve million already here expected to get any type of citizenship they would have to prove that they could read, write, and speak English.”

The fundraiser was sponsored by Bill Simon (who worked with Rudy in the U.S. Attorney’s office). My friend, who is the rare pro-life, Hollywood hawk, left wondering if he could support Rudy if it came to that. “We all know where Rudy is on abortion but my question is what does he think of Judges Roberts and Alito? If he says that he would appoint judges of like mind then I think he can skate on the abortion issue because it does come down to the judges.” It was Hollywood though so no one asked about any social issues.

My emphasis. So is Rudy really to the right of everyone not named Tancredo in the GOP field on the issue of immigration? Race42008 editor Kavon Nikrad says yes:

The first thing Rudy proposes is to seal the southern border. He proposes to do this by using Compstat technology to organize ground forces, satellites, and unmanned drones...

Secondly, he wants to make sure that every person that is here in America illegally is identified. Everyone has to come forward. If the person has a criminal history, they’re out of here.

Thirdly, every illegal alien would be required to be able to speak, read, and write the English language before achieving any type of legal status.

There would also presumably be a back taxes/penalty requirement as well.

So K-Lo is correct. Rudy is to the right of probably everyone but the Tancredo’s and Hunters on this issue.

On the issue of judges, Rudy has voiced support previously for the appointment of judicial conservatives to our nation's courts:

While in Ohio, Rudy called into the Bill Cunningham radio show. Speaking about the Supreme Court, Rudy said: "Justices Roberts and Alito were both colleagues of mine [in the Reagan Justice Department] - people I worked with and I admire tremendously. I thought that they were inspired choices that the President made - inspired in many ways, because they also were people who had a strong conservative background and strict constructionists." He added, "Justice Scalia was also a colleague of mine...and he probably would have been my choice for Chief Justice."

This confirms Rudy's conservatism on the social issues trifecta that detractors say will sink Rudy. By opposing new federal gun laws, as discussed earlier today, by running to the right of Romney and McCain on immigration, and by supporting the types of judges that will ensure that the people and their elected representatives will get to write abotion policy, and not the courts, Rudy proves that he is well within the conservative mainstream on the social issues important to GOP primary voters. Add to that Rudy's positions on taxes, spending, government reform, and the war on terror and you have a candidate whose position papers match those of most grassroots Republicans.

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