Giuliani Blog Tracking the likely Presidential candidacy of Rudy Giuliani

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Giuliani Notes: California Dreamin’ and Campaign Cash

Cross Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Mayor Rudy Giuliani addressing the press after speaking before the California GOP, February 10, 2007. Photo by Flap.

The Politico: Rudy Woos K St, Sets Major DC Funder

As I reported earlier this week, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani met with a few hundred Washington movers and shakers yesterday to make his pitch. There were actually two events, both at the Hotel Washington. The first, I’m told by a lobbyist who attended, was for major donors. The second was filled with “members of the PAC community,” as my source put it. Some who showed were already on board, others wanted to kick the tires.

Giuliani gave a stump speech, but did weave in some politics. He talked about Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, but also mentioned the prospect that other, larger states could move up their primaries — something Hizzoner’s advisers think would aid his candidacy. Having spent considerable time in California recently, Giuliani noted that it’s been 40 years since the mega-state had a primary that mattered (RFK vs. Clean for Gene in ‘68).

Giuliani also put in a plug for what will be one of his first major Beltway fundraising events. I’m told that Peter Terpulek will host the soiree at his Chevy Chase home on March 22. A top lobbyist with the American Continental Group, Turpulek was a Bush Pioneer in 2000 who was rewarded with the ambassadorship to Luxembourg.

California Dreamin’ and fifty-five electoral votes in play for the GOP.

Rudy will be in California frequently.

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani gestures during his address at the California Republican Party convention in Sacramento, Calif., Saturday, Feb. 10, 2007. Giuliani’s remarks touched topics from health care, to crime, to terrorism to Iraq, in a speech laden with references to a possible bid for president.

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Saturday, February 24, 2007

Giuliani Notes: CPAC - Rudy Will Speak on Friday

Cross Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Mayor Giuliani will be addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday according to the Politico.

It had previously been reported that Rudy and McCain would be skipping the meeting.

Flap doesn’t know about McCain.

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Giuliani Notes: Cook Political Report and RT Strategies Poll

Cross Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Cook Political Report and RT Strategies

Rudy Giuliani 32%
John McCain 23%
Newt Gingrich 13%
Mitt Romney 10%
George Pataki 4%
Sam Brownback 2%
Tom Tancredo 2%
Duncan Hunter 1%
Mike Huckabee 1%
Chuck Hagel 1%
Tommy Thompson 1%
Jim Gilmore 1%

Another national poll showing the same ol’ result - Rudy Wins.

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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy vs. Hillary by the Electoral Numbers

Cross Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani autographs a poster at the World Ag Expo, Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2007, in Tulare, Calif. Giuliani toured the expo on his latest stop in a trek through California.

Michael Barone U.S. News: Hillary Vs. Rudy

They’re leading in polls for their parties’ nominations, and so I think we have to regard this as the likeliest pairing in the 2008 presidential race, at least for now. Last July, pollster Jay Leve of SurveyUSA did surveys in 50 states and the District of Columbia of several pairings of candidates. You can see the electoral vote results with a few clicks. They show Giuliani ahead of Clinton 354 to 184. I would guess it would be somewhat closer now, and both candidates carried several states by statistically insignificant margins. Premium subscribers can get access to the percentage results in each state and to the demographic breakdown in each state; there are enough respondents to make the latter statistically significant, with the usual caution that the margin of error is significantly greater for subgroups than for the whole state.

I have examined these numbers before in this blog but decided to give them another look.

Barone has an interesting analysis using old data. But, his conclusions are common sense:

Rudy beats Hillary by putting the East and California in play

Notwithstanding any gaffes by Rudy or a sudden shift of the Democrat Party to nominate Obama, the most likely scenario is that Hillary loses in the electoral college either by a lot or by enough - more than Bush win or Kerry loss in 2004.

Barone noted that Rudy was most weak in the Central Valley in California. Note where Hizzoner was last week campaigning: the Central Valley of California.

California has a winner take all primary by congressional district system. Look for the Mayor to campaign hard in most of them and spend many of his primary campaign dollars in media in the many more rural California counties - gearing up for the general election push for 55 electoral votes.

The electoral college map:

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Target states for the Giuliani campaign will be these:

1. California - 55

2. Florida - 27

3. Pennsylvania - 21

4. New York - 31

5. New Jersey - 15

The population of the states vis a vis their electoral college vote ranking is here.

Note that these are BIG media states. A reason why fund raising will be increasingly important to reach the media markets with a saturation of television and radio ads.

Barone’s conclusions:

Upshot: Democrats have some small cause for satisfaction here. Rudy is clearly not as heavily backed as Bush, and voters show more sign of appreciating Hillary’s long southern sojourn than many of us thought. But at best for the Democrats, this puts Arkansas, Louisiana, and West Virginia into play (20 electoral votes) and possibly Virginia (13 electoral votes), while leaving North Carolina and Georgia (30 electoral votes) still out of reach. And Rudy is at least as strong in Florida (27 electoral votes) as Bush was in ‘04.

National upshot: Rudy’s electoral vote position against Hillary is much stronger than Bush’s against Kerry. Rudy puts almost the whole East into play and is significantly stronger in several target states in the Midwest and West. Hillary puts some states into play in the South but with many fewer electoral votes than Rudy does elsewhere. Even if you assume that Hillary is stronger against Rudy today than she was in July, the pairing does place the Republicans in a stronger position than Bush was in ‘04.

So, the GOP has REAL opportunities to retain the White House with Giuliani. Is it time to annoint Rudy the nominee and move on to fund raising for the general election against Hillary Clinton?

Apparently ……

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Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: New York Times Tells Rudy How to Campaign

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Visits with South Carolina Firefighters

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Opts Out of Religious Broadcasters Meeting

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Evangelical Richard Land Strikes Back at Rudy

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Rudy v. Hillary: Barone runs the numbers

The incomparable psephologist Michael Barone slices and dices the numbers on a Giuliani vs. Clinton match-up. Although the SurveyUSA poll he examines is rather old, it has the state-level detail required for any serious discussion of a presidential election.

Barone's whole analysis, which he has organized by region, is worth a read. The abbreviated version is that Giuliani puts into play several big states (electorally speaking) that went Democratic in 2004: beyond the obvious New York (31 electoral votes) and New Jersey (15), there is Pennsylvania (21) and a handful of smaller states. In states that went GOP in 2004, Clinton only puts about half the number of electoral votes in play, mainly in Virginia (13), Missouri (11) and Louisiana (9).

Just as important — since Bush did win 286 electoral votes in 2004, with 270 necessary — is Giuliani's ability to solidify the GOP's position in key states. His margin over Clinton improves from Bush's margin over Kerry in Florida (27 EVs), Ohio (20), Arizona (10) and Colorado (9). The only Kerry states that Clinton shores up are her home state of Illinois (21) and Wisconsin (10).

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Friday, February 23, 2007

Giuliani Notes: Official Rudy 2008 Online Store Launches

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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The site is here.

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Check it out.

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Giuliani Notes: GOP Debate Schedule Set

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Hotline: Giuliani Accepts First Debate

The Hotline hears that… ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani has accepted his first debate invitation. Appropriately enough, it’s for the May 3 gathering at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

And the Mayor has declined (along with Senator McCain) a New Hampshire debate on April 4.

Other debates scheduled include:

May 15, 2007 (Columbia, South Carolina), hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party

September 6, 2007 ( New Hampshire), hosted by Fox News

September 27, 2007 (Baltimore, Maryland), hosted by PBS

October 14, 2007 (Manchester, New Hampshire), hosted by ABC

January 22, 2008 or earlier (New Hampshire), hosted by Fox News

February 1, 2008 (Columbia, South Carolina), hosted by the South Carolina Republican Party

Well, if the voters don’t know the candidates by primary election season………..they never will.

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Giuliani Notes: Rudy 52% - Hillary 43% in Latest Rasmussen Poll

Cross-posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Rasmussen Reports: Election 2008: Giuliani 52% Clinton 43%

In a match-up between the early 2008 frontrunners, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) leads New York Senator Hillary Clinton (D) 52% to 43%. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds Giuliani’s lead growing in recent months. His current nine-point advantage is up from a six point lead in January and a four-point lead in December.

Giuliani has solidified his title as the most popular candidate of Election 2008—his favorability ratings have inched back up to 70% (see summary for all Republican candidates).

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Interesting poll as Hillary and Obama have their dust-up. Note that Edwards does better than Hillary.

Is it possible that David Geffen is a better handicapper than the Clinton Cabal?

Now, will Rudy be able to parlay this poll success with the financial donors? According to the New York Post he will be trying.

Clinton is viewed favorably by 50% and unfavorably by 48%. The last four times that Rasmussen Reports has polled on a Giuliani-Clinton race, Clinton’s support has remained unchanged at 43%.

While both candidates draw reasonable levels of support from within their own party, Giuliani has an enormous 64% to 27% advantage over Clinton among unaffiliated voters.

A great poll result for Giuliani.

Will this precipitate movement by Hillary’s folks to go after him?

Probably not with Edwards and Obama in the race. Hillary has her hands full at the moment.

Stay tuned……

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Rudy Giuliani Watch: New York Times Tells Rudy How to Campaign

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani speaks during a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday.

New York Times: Stepping to the Plate, Giuliani Is Seeing Only Softballs

In a swing through South Carolina this week, Rudolph W. Giuliani chose to campaign at a fire house, which is a little like Derek Jeter meeting with Yankees fans — a most unlikely forum for hostility, or even much skepticism.

Instead of the sometimes barbed give-and-take endured by the other candidates, Mr. Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, fielded a few questions from the firefighters and police officers who gathered to hear him here. The questions, which began with comments like, “Being in your presence here is just unbelievable,” stuck almost entirely to issues on which Mr. Giuliani is most comfortable, like airport security and border control.

So, now New York Times reporter RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA and the editors of the New York Times wish to direct the Mayor in campaign strategy and tell him how to stump for votes.

After all, Hizzoner is only leading in just about every major national poll - but he is only getting softball questions and events?

Oh Please…….

This is Not true and the New York Times knows it. Flap does know because he was in the same room as Perez-Penna a few weeks ago when the questions were asked of the Mayor.

Remember when Perez-Pena crticized Rudy over his campaign song by The Clash?

Flap wonders if he was in Florida today when Rudy campaigned. Let’s look at some of the quotes of the Floridians who greeted Giuliani:

Giuliani briefly chatted with people at the Lox Around The Clock restaurant but did not share his views on issues. Still, some people said he was the best candidate.

“I am a Democrat but I’d vote for him,” said Maxwell Lizza III, a postman who had just finish his shift delivering mail.

Some snowbirds from the Northeast eating a 5 p.m. dinner praised Giuliani for reducing crime in New York and cleaning up the once-neglected Times Square.

“He is one of the greatest mayors ever,” said Susan Grogins, having soup with her husband, Mike, a Democrat.

“I told him he had my vote and my family’s, including my husband’s,” she said.

Sorry New York Times, we all know you wish to sabotage the Giuliani campaign - but it ain’t working.

But, you will try, won’t you?

And what did you write about Barack Obama when he refused to debate Hillary and the other Democrats in Nevada yesterday?

How do you spell BIAS?

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Republican presidential hopeful, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, center, autographs books after holding a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, in Spartanburg, S.C.

Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Visits with South Carolina Firefighters

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Opts Out of Religious Broadcasters Meeting

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Evangelical Richard Land Strikes Back at Rudy

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Giuliani Notes: Rudy in Delray, Florida Today

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Republican presidential hopeful, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, center, autographs books after holding a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, in Spartanburg, S.C.

Palm Beach Post: Giuliani bringing campaign to Delray

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani brings his Republican presidential campaign to a diner in Delray Beach on Thursday.

Giuliani will be at the Lox Around the Clock diner at 13800 S. Jog Road at 4:30 p.m. to mingle with customers. The event is open to the public.

Giuliani will also attend a private cocktail party at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Palm Beach home of Bill Diamond and Regine Traulsen. The price is $2,300 per person, the maximum that an individual can contribute to a presidential campaign.

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Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani speaks during a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday.

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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Visits with South Carolina Firefighters

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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Republican presidential hopeful, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani shakes hands with Thomas Lindsey during a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, in Spartanburg, S.C.

AP: Giuliani visits with S.C. firefighters

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani met with firefighters and police officers in this early voting state Wednesday, using the forum to reference the Sept. 11 terror attacks, which earned him national attention.

“The first people that arrive on the scene of the bombing or the anthrax attack … it’s going to be one of your brothers or your sisters or you that gets to do it,” the former New York mayor told a crowd of about 200 emergency workers. “Your ability to do it well will once again determine if we save lives — save America.”

Giuliani compared firefighters and police to uniformed military personnel and said the federal Department of Homeland Security needs to ensure first responders “have the training and protection you need to defend your country.”

Looks like Mayor Giuliani is hard at work stumping for votes in South Carolina. McCain and Romney are supposed to be the top two in this state where they have long been organizing, soliciting and receiving South Carolina politico endrsements.

South Carolina will hold their primary election on Saturday, February 2, 2008, after Iowa Caucuses on January 21 and the New Hampshire primary on January 29th. This Saturday primary will be immediately preceding Super Tuesday where the big states of California, New York, Illinois and Florida will be in play.

Rudy is going for the early hat trick?

Actually, Rudy may not win South Carolina (his polling to date has been lackluster) but he is not conceding any state - at least at this early stage.

Stay tuned…….

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Republican presidential hopeful former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani fields questions from the crowd during a campaign rally with first responders at the North Spartanburg Fire Department, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, in Spartanburg, S.C.

Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Opts Out of Religious Broadcasters Meeting

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Evangelical Richard Land Strikes Back at Rudy

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Giuliani puts Blue America into play

What's up with the purple states?

Today's Quinnipiac University national poll had good news for Rudy Giuliani. Looking to 2008, voters prefer him to Hillary Clinton by a margin of 48% to 43% (margin of error 2.5%). McCain also leads Clinton but within the margin of error. Voters were surveyed February 13-19.

Slicing the results is interesting: Giuliani beats Clinton 55% to 38% in states that went for Bush in 2004, illustrating once again that social conservatives aren't leaping into Hillary's boat just because she's only been married once.

In states that Kerry won, Giuliani ties Clinton 46% to 46% — an exciting result.

But in the so-called "purple states", where the margin between Bush and Kerry in 2004 was less than 7%, Giuliani trails Clinton 44% to 45%. Similarly, Giuliani loses to both Obama and Edwards in the purple states, while trouncing them in the blue states.

Why this counterintuitive result? The four explanations I can think of:

  • The purple states include states like Ohio and New Hampshire that trended heavily Democratic in 2006. The situation there may be worse for Republicans than elsewhere.
  • The solid blue states include New York and New Jersey, where Giuliani is widely popular, especially compared to Edwards and Obama.
  • Giuliani puts into play those states that tend to be "culturally blue, economically red" — like New York and California, with strong traditions of social liberalism but also willingness to select Republican governors. These states weren't purple in 2004 — they were solidly behind Kerry.
  • Sample size. The Quinnipiac results were based on a nationwide survey of 1536 voters, so the sampling error for particular states or groups of states may be very high; results in both "blue" and "purple" states are only hints at actual opinion.

Overall the poll is evidence of what Rudy supporters have known all along: Giuliani can easily hold the red states and put the Democrats on the defensive in blue America

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Giuliani Notes: Rudy Continues To Lead in Latest Rasmussen Polling

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Giuliani 33% McCain 19% Gingrich 13% Romney 9%

For the second straight week, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) holds a fourteen percentage point lead in the race for the Republican Presidential nomination. Giuliani attracts support from 33% of Likely Primary Voters while Arizona Senator John McCain is supported by 19%. A week ago, it was Giuliani 32% McCain 18%.

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And in the match-ups with the Democrats Giuliani continues to lead with McCain tied.

In General Election match-ups, Giuliani leads against every Democrat including Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and former Vice-President Al Gore.

McCain is essentially tied with Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

See a summary of all match-ups along with favorability ratings and perceptions of the candidates’ ideology. A summary is also provided for Democratic contenders.

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Sunday, February 18, 2007

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Opts Out of Religious Broadcasters Meeting

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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One of the “KINGMAKERS”

Rudy Guliani Opts Out of Religious Broadcasters Meeting

Is Rudy Going to Ignore Evangelicals?

With the bare fact being that no Republican in recent memory has been able to win a major contest without at least the tacit backing of the religious right, Rudy Guliani might be trying to buck that trend. While on the surface it may seem like a bad gamble, is Rudy playing the smart card, letting the other candidates fight over the evangelical vote-and keeping himself clean from association with the far-right fringe in the process-hoping that he could hold all the cards at nomination time?

Starting February 17th and going through February 20th in Orlando, Florida, the National Religious Broadcasters will be holding their convention. And as one might expect, Republican candidates are lining up to try to woo the support of the evangelical leaders. For if the past is any indication, evangelicals tend to vote as their leaders suggest. There were some defections in 2006, but none major enough to change the paradigm. So what is Rudy thinking?

Rudy is thinking that he has double digit leads in most all of the national polls over his GOP challengers and that he should NOT have to pander to the Religious Evangelical Right. He will NOT receive their support or endorsements in any case.

However, by NOT pandering to them he may well be better positioned in the general election against Hillary Clinton.

Let McCain and Romney who have their own problems with James Dobson, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell pander and divide the Evangelical vote and campaign money. In the meantime, the large corporate GOP Donors including Hollywood Producers will feel more comfortable with a secular Giuliani campaign, open their wallets and fund the pre-Super Tuesday media campaign especially in large delegate rich non-Southern states.

Howard Fineman, writing for MSNBC, speaks about the ‘Three Kingmakers.” He is of course talking about Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson. According to Fineman, Falwell has already decided on McCain and Robertson is favoring Romney. Leaving only James Dobson as the undecided of the three. The problem is this-how many Americans, in 2008, are going to trust the candidate who ends up with the majority of these three “Kingmakers” behind him?

So maybe Rudy Guliani is playing it smart. He knows that if he is the Republican candidate the evangelical voters will mostly do one of two things. Hold their noses and vote for him over the Democratic candidate, or stay home and not vote at all. Either way will help him.

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James Dobson of Focus on the Family on John McCain: “I pray that we don’t get stuck with him”

Like Flap said the first time. The Evangelical Right IS becoming ILLELEVANT.

Sorry Allah - this is NO death wish. Just the way it is and how Giuliani wins the Presidency.

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Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Evangelical Richard Land Strikes Back at Rudy

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Saturday, February 17, 2007

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Evangelical Richard Land Strikes Back at Rudy

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

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The Hill: Evangelical leader sizes up GOP field, says Giuliani’s campaign is doomed

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who said Wednesday night he is making a bid for the White House, will not be America’s 44th president because he supports abortion rights and gay rights and has been married three times.

At least so says Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Land told The Hill in an interview this week that as it stands now, the top tier of Republican presidential hopefuls lacks a candidate social conservatives can be fully comfortable voting for.

So?

And how many “LOCKSTEP” GOP voters can Dr. Land guarantee for any ONE paricular primary candidate?

Some - but mainly in small delegate southern states.

And how much money can Land promise for media campaigns in California, New York and Florida?

Not much…….

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James Dobson of Focus on the Family on John McCain: “I pray that we don’t get stuck with him”

At this time, Flap says Dr. Land and James Dobson have become IRRELEVANT to the GOP presidential selection process.

Beginning with Giuliani, Land said “the vast majority” of social conservative voters will not vote for the former mayor even if he gets the nomination and faces off against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.).

“If he wins, he’ll do so without social conservatives,” Land said.

Hugh Hewitt says Dr. Land is WRONG.

Flap reiterates: Dr. Land is becoming IRRELEVANT with little or NO influence in the GOP.

So, where will they go, if not to Giuliani?

John McCain?

Very doubtful after what James Dobson said in January that he could not support him under any circumstances.

Mitt Romney?

A Mormon - an anathema to fundamentalist Christian Evangelicals?

No Way

In the meantime, the Mayor will be a featured speaker at a school founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson, officials said yesterday.

The appearance in April comes at a time when Giuliani is trying to build bridges to conservatives who dominate GOP primaries and who are wary of his pro-choice, pro-gay-rights stands.

The former mayor, who tops most GOP primary polls along with Arizona Sen. John McCain, will speak at Regent University’s executive-leadership series on April 17, school officials said.

Robertson, the fundamentalist televangelist who once ran for president himself, is chancellor of the school in Virginia Beach, Va., and “extended the invitation personally” to Giuliani.

He’ll likely introduce the former mayor at the lecture, a school spokeswoman said.

California-based Republican strategist Dan Schnur said it was a plus for Giuliani.

“It shows that social conservatives are at least willing to listen to him,” Schnur said.

Flap’s best bet is that the Evangelicals will turn the other cheek and accept the “sinner” yet MAINSTREAM Giuliani when faced with a prospect of Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

Stay tuned……

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Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Video - Rudy on Iraq War Non-Binding Congressional Resolutions

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities Part 2

Rudy Giuliani Watch: USA Today Poll Has Rudy Pulling Away from McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - 100 Per Cent Committed to Running for President

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities

Rudy Giuliani Watch: California GOP Convention Post Mortem

Rudy Giuliani Watch: The California GOP News Conference

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - That is the Kind of President I Want to Be

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Announces for President

California Republican Convention Watch: Sacramento and Raining

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Friday, February 16, 2007

Newt on Rudy

Sounds like the former Speaker may have found himself a candidate:

Long dismissed by Washington insiders as incapable of receiving the Republican Party’s presidential nomination because of his pro-abortion rights, pro-gay rights and pro-gun control views, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was lavished with praise Friday by an icon of American conservatism.

“He is much stronger than anyone could have predicted six months ago,” said former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich from Georgia. “New York is four times safer than it used to be. It’s one of the greatest achievements of government capability in the 20th century. And Rudy just has to go out and say, ‘This is who I am. If you think the world’s dangerous, and you need a tough guy … that’s me.’ ”

Gingrich, who co-wrote a Wall Street Journal op-ed with Giuliani last month, said he is not endorsing the man who led New York City through the terrorist attacks of 9/11, and he noted that he may still jump into the presidential race against him.

But the words of praise from the architect of the GOP’s 1994 takeover of Congress capped a big week for Giuliani, which included more encouraging poll numbers, a raucous reception from California Republicans, and the latest round of softball interviews in which he has been able to downplay his liberal social views by espousing his commitment to appointing “strict constructionist” judges.

Nearly a year before the first presidential primaries are held, a Gallup Poll released Wednesday found that Giuliani has a 16-point lead among Republicans over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In general election matchups, Gallup found that Giuliani leads Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., by nine points and Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., by two points, within the survey’s three-point margin of error. McCain, by contrast, ties Obama and trails Clinton by three percentage points.

Saying that former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., is going through a “little bit of a rough patch,” Gingrich was noticeably cooler toward Romney today than he has been in the past.
Back in November, while appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Gingrich singled out Romney as someone who is working “very hard” to fill a vacuum in the GOP for a “clearer voice of conservatism,” adding that Romney “may well succeed.”

Gingrich adopted a different tone toward Romney today after cost estimates for his health care plan, which have soared above the former governor’s expectations, which revealed.
“I think that he’s very smart, he’s very articulate, and he’s had a little bit of a rough patch with the cost of the health plan is Massachusetts,” said Gingrich, “But he’s a very smart guy, and I think he’ll be a very significant candidate.”

In assessing Giuliani’s potential appeal to conservatives, Gingrich pointed to Giuliani saying in recent interviews that he would appoint “strict constructionist” judges.

Gingrich predicted that one of Giuliani’s GOP rivals would air television ads attacking him for having made positive statements in the past about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice appointed by former President Clinton, who has upheld abortion rights.

Gingrich, however, seemed unconvinced that the line of attack would work

“And as he said the other day,” said Gingrich, “he would have appointed the same two Supreme Court justices as Bush did. So conservatives have got to decide, you know, is that acceptable or not acceptable?”
Hey, if he’s good enough for Newt…

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Rudy Giuliani Watch: Latest Fox News Poll Shows Rudy with Double Digit Lead Over McCain

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

giulianioctober4aweb

FOX News Poll: Voters Want New Face to Enter 2008 Contest

Opinion Dynamics Corp. conducted the national telephone poll of 900 registered voters for FOX News from February 13 to February 14. The poll has a 3-point error margin.

Half of voters (49 percent) say they are hoping there is someone new out there who they have yet to hear about who will enter the presidential contest. Republicans (53 percent) are a bit more interested than Democrats (46 percent) for someone new to come along.

The Poll is here.

In a head to head GOP primary contest with Senator John McCain, Mayor Giuliani has opened up a LARGE double digit lead:

giulianifeb16aweb2

Note that Giuliani is beating McCain by 25 points on GOP voters and 23 points on Independent voters. This has increased by a significant margin since the last poll in December.

In test match ups against Democrat candidates Giuliani again leads even if Ralph Nader is added into the mix.

In a test of a couple matchups, Giuliani outperforms the Democratic candidates — even when a third party candidate is added to the mix.

By 45 percent to 39 percent, Giuliani bests Obama, with 16 percent undecided. Giuliani bests Clinton by a slightly wider margin: 49 percent to 40 percent, with 11 percent undecided.

As of today, if Nader were to enter the race, it looks like he would hurt Giuliani more than Clinton. In that hypothetical race, Giuliani receives 46 percent to Clinton’s 40 percent, with Nader at 5 percent, which means Giuliani’s lead drops from 9 percentage points in the two-way race to a 6 point edge when Nader is included.

Nader has recently stated publicly that he will consider getting into the race later in the year.

Is Giuliani running away from the GOP field?

Somewhat, but it is early.

When will McCain, Romney and the Democrats start going negative on Rudy?

Probably soon or his campaign may create INEVITABILITY.

giulianifeb15cweb

Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Not Confident Iraq War Will Turn Around

Rudy Giuliani Watch: May 3 Debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Video - Rudy on Iraq War Non-Binding Congressional Resolutions

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities Part 2

Rudy Giuliani Watch: USA Today Poll Has Rudy Pulling Away from McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - 100 Per Cent Committed to Running for President

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities

Rudy Giuliani Watch: California GOP Convention Post Mortem

Rudy Giuliani Watch: The California GOP News Conference

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - That is the Kind of President I Want to Be

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Announces for President

California Republican Convention Watch: Sacramento and Raining

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Thursday, February 15, 2007

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Yes, I’m Running

Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

giulianifeb15cweb

Rudy Giuliani on CNN Larry King’s Show, February 14, 2007

New York Times: Giuliani Says He Is Running for President in ’08

Rudolph W. Giuliani yesterday removed any lingering doubts that he was running for president, and, without mentioning President Bush by name, offered pointed criticism on how the Iraq war has been handled.

He said that the United States went to war with far too few forces and was wrong to dismantle Saddam Hussein’s military and government, and he conceded that if more information had been available about Iraq’s weapons, Congress never would have approved the war.

Mr. Giuliani has behaved like a presidential candidate for months, forming an exploratory committee, raising money, building a campaign staff and making appearances around the country. But until now, he has repeatedly stopped short of a definitive statement of his intentions — even joking about his nondeclarations in recent days.

Where has New York Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena been the past few days? Flap knows he was in the room last Saturday in Sacramento when Flap shot this video:

Oh, Flap knows where he was - writing a story on Rudy’s campaign song on his New York Times blog.

For the benefit of the New York Times, here is some of last night’s Larry King interview of Hizzoner:

So, is this New York Times piece superfluous?

You betcha and a WEAK attempt to portray Rudy as indecisive.

And it is BULL…….

Stay tuned for more crap from the New York Times……

giulianifeb15bweb

Previous:

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Video - Rudy on Iraq War Non-Binding Congressional Resolutions

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities Part 2

Rudy Giuliani Watch: USA Today Poll Has Rudy Pulling Away from McCain

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - 100 Per Cent Committed to Running for President

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Vulnerabilities

Rudy Giuliani Watch: California GOP Convention Post Mortem

Rudy Giuliani Watch: The California GOP News Conference

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy - That is the Kind of President I Want to Be

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Announces for President

California Republican Convention Watch: Sacramento and Raining

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy vs. Hillary in 2008?

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Trashing Rudy on Speaking Fees and Consulting

Rudy Giuliani Watch: Distorting Rudy’s Position on Justice Ginsburg

Rudy Giuliani Watch: America’s Mayor Announces for President on Hannity and Colmes

The Rudy Giuliani Files


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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Supply-Sider in Chief (Expanded Edition)

The following is the complete version of the "Supply-Sider in Chief" which appeared on Feb. 9th, 2007 in Human Events. This version was published on Feb. 14th, 2007 in The National Review Online.-KWN

_______________________________________________________

On economic issues, Giuliani is the right candidate.

Republican primary voters should rally around the GOP field’s most accomplished supply-sider, the all-but-announced Rudolph W. Giuliani. Having sliced taxes and slashed Gotham’s government, New York’s former mayor is the leading fiscal conservative among 2008’s GOP presidential contenders.

Before Giuliani’s January 1, 1994, inauguration, New York’s economy was on a stretcher. Amid soaring unemployment, 235 jobs vanished daily. Financier Felix Rohatyn complained: “Virtually all human activities are taxed to the hilt.” Punitive taxes helped fuel a $2.3 billion deficit that threatened to swallow the city.

Mayor-elect Giuliani sounded Reaganesque when he announced he would “reduce the size and cost of city government” to balance the budget. In his first State of the City address, he said: “We’re going to cut taxes to attract jobs so our people can work.”

Giuliani spent eight years keeping these promises.

“America’s Mayor” cut or killed 23 levies, saving taxpayers $9.8 billion. Giuliani pared Gotham’s top income-tax rate by 20.6 percent. The chief financial officer of Washington, D.C.’s municipal government produces an obscure but invaluable survey called Tax Rates and Tax Burdens in The District of Columbia – A Nationwide Comparison. It indicates that between 1993 and 2001, local taxes on a family of four New Yorkers earning $75,000 fell 19.3 percent. For such a household making $50,000, city taxes consumed 23.7 percent less of its income. At $25,000, the drop was 33.9 percent. Giuliani’s tax cuts left moms and dads more money to cover such things as day care, clothing, and private-school tuition for their children.

Giuliani cut the commercial-rent tax, curbed sales taxes, and curtailed the marriage penalty on taxpaying couples. Giuliani proudly shaved Gotham’s hotel tax from 6 percent to 5 in 1994. Consequently, revenues from that tax soared from $115 million in 1993 to $235 million in 2001.

Giuliani defends his supply-side instincts with bracing candor. Asked after September 11 if he would hike taxes, Giuliani called that “a dumb, stupid, idiotic, and moronic thing to do.”

In 1995, Giuliani was equally clear on spending: “We must choose between pulling ourselves into the late 20th Century or remaining mired in the tired and abandoned policies of the Great Society.”

Giuliani’s expenditure growth averaged 2.9 percent annually, while local inflation between January 1994 and December 2001 averaged 3.6 percent. His FY 1995 budget decreased outlays by 1.6 percent, while his post-9/11 FY 2002 plan lowered appropriations by 2.6 percent.

If President Bush had followed Giuliani’s example and limited Washington’s spending to 2.9 percent average, annual growth, the just-unveiled FY 2008 federal budget would cost $2.275 trillion, not $2.9 trillion, saving taxpayers $625 billion, Cato Institute fiscal analyst Stephen Slivinski estimates. Such fiscal discipline would generate a $386 billion surplus, not an anticipated $239 billion deficit.

Ironically, Giuliani restrained spending with only, at most, six Republicans on the 51-seat City Council. (Speaker Peter Vallone, a moderate Democrat from Queens, often backed Giuliani.) Meanwhile, President Bush, blessed until January with a Republican Congress, has boosted non-defense, non-Homeland Security spending 41 percent — outpacing Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Giuliani shrank local bureaucracy. While hiring 12 percent more cops and 12.8 percent more teachers, Giuliani whittled municipal manpower elsewhere by 17.2 percent, from 117,494 workers in 1993 to 97,338 through December 2000. Including police and pedagogues, full-time, city-funded employees fell from 222,836 to 215,891 — a 3.1 percent overall decline.

Giuliani repeatedly privatized municipal assets. Among 30,358 abandoned housing units previously seized from tax-delinquent owners, 23,625 (77.8 percent) were sold to families and individual occupants. Giuliani sold WNYC radio for $20 million, WNYC-TV for $207 million, and Gotham’s share of the U.N. Plaza Hotel for $85 million. Divesting the New York Coliseum excised an eyesore from Columbus Circle and added $345 million to city coffers. Giuliani also let the private Central Park Conservancy manage all 843 acres of Manhattan’s fabled urban forest.

Giuliani endorsed real-estate developer Larry Silverstein’s purchase of the previously government-owned World Trade Center. Silverstein signed a 99-year lease on the facility on July 24, 2001, just seven weeks before al Qaeda demolished it.

These eight years of tax reduction and fiscal responsibility helped hammer unemployment from 10.4 percent in 1993 to 5.7 percent in 2001. Simultaneously, personal income advanced 53 percent. Meanwhile, Gotham’s population grew by 679,000 or 9.3 percent, as locals stopped fleeing, and hundreds of thousands came to prosper in a safe, thriving metropolis.

(Click here for detailed figures on Mayor Giuliani’s record.)

It’s hard to compare a two-term mayor, a one-term governor of a state with a smaller population than Gotham’s, and a four-term U.S. senator from Arizona with no executive-branch experience. Nevertheless, Cato’s 2006 Fiscal Policy Report Card on America’s Governors gives former Massachusetts chief executive Mitt Romney a “C.” While the top personal tax rate fell 6 percent on his watch, thanks to a referendum voters approved before he arrived, Romney’s first budget raised $140 million by closing corporate-tax loopholes. That budget also featured some $501.5 million in increased fees, including higher marriage licenses (from $4 to $50), pricier gun permits ($25 to $100), costlier elevator-inspection fees, steeper public ice-rink charges, a $100 biannual fee for volunteer firefighters (rescinded under pressure), and a $10 expense for previously free ID cards that let blind people ride Boston public-transit gratis.

“If you consider the massive costs to taxpayers that his universal health care plan will inflict,” writes Cato’s Slivinski, “Romney’s tenure is clearly not a triumph of small-government activism.”

Few in Congress expose outrageous federal boondoggles as fervently as does John McCain. However, he is an ambivalent tax fighter. According to Club for Growth research, McCain opposed President Clinton’s 1993 tax increases and supported his 1997 capital-gains tax cuts. He also voted to extend President Bush’s 2003 tax cuts by two years. For 2005, McCain earned a 78 percent National Taxpayers Union rating — an “A.”

Unfortunately, McCain opposed President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Only one other GOP senator so voted: Rhode Island’s Republican renegade loser, Lincoln Chafee. McCain voted against repealing the death tax in 2002. Also, in 1998, McCain embraced former Senator Tom Daschle’s (D., S.D.) motion to waive the Budget Act and approve Big Tobacco’s Master Settlement Agreement, including a $1.10-per-pack cigarette-tax increase.

“I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues,” McCain conceded to the Wall Street Journal editorialist Stephen Moore in November 2005. “I still need to be educated.”

Conservatives seeking a proven leader to lasso taxes and rein in runaway spending have a natural choice for president: Rudolph W. Giuliani.

-Deroy Murdock

______________________________________________________

This article originally appeared in The National Review Online on February 14th, 2007. It is reprinted here with the author's permission

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Quinnipiac University New York Poll

Lots of new polls have been released in the past 24 hours. The latest one is from Quinnipiac University, which contains no real surprises considering that it's a New York State poll:

Quinnipiac University Polling Institute New York Poll, taken February 6 -11, 2007.

"If the 2008 Republican primary for President were being held today, and the candidates were Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Duncan Hunter, Sam Brownback, Tommy Thompson, Jim Gilmore, Chuck Hagel, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki and Tom Tancredo for whom would you vote? (registered Republicans)"

  • Rudy Giuliani 51%
  • John McCain 17%
  • George Pataki 7%
  • Newt Gingrich 6%
  • Mike Huckabee 2%
  • Chuck Hagel 1%
  • Duncan Hunter 1%
  • Mitt Romney 1%
  • Tom Tancredo 1%
  • Someone Else 3%
  • Don't Know 9%
These results, combined with the Strategic Vision midterm state polls, can reasonably lead someone to believe that Rudy may have reached or exceeded 50% support in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Washington (depending upon whether you believe the Quinnipiac and ARG or Strategic Vision polls more).

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USA Today/Gallup Poll Update

Here is further breakdown of the USA Today/Gallup Poll that was released yesterday:

Favorable/Unfavorable:
  • Rudy Giuliani 66% - 22%
  • Hillary Clinton 58% - 40%
  • John McCain 57% - 26%
  • Barack Obama 53% - 19%
  • Al Gore 52% - 45%
  • John Edwards 49% - 31%
  • Mitt Romney 18% - 18% (47% never heard of)
(Asked of Republicans and independents who lean to the Republican Party) Suppose the choice for the Republican presidential nomination narrows down to former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani or Arizona Senator John McCain. Which one would you prefer the Republican Party nominate for president?
  • Rudy Giuliani 57%
  • John McCain 39%
Would (insert candidate name) make a good President?
  • Rudy Giuliani 65%-yes
  • John McCain 60%-yes

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Giuliani Breaks 40% in Nation Poll

USA Today/Gallup Poll. Results are based on telephone interviews conducted February 9-11, 2007:

Republicans:

  • Rudy Giuliani 40%
  • John McCain 24%
  • Newt Gingrich 9%
  • Mitt Romney 5%
  • Sam Brownback 3%
  • Jim Gilmore 2%
  • Tommy Thompson 2%
  • Mike Huckabee 2%
  • Duncan Hunter 1%
  • Tom Tancredo 1%
  • George Pataki 1%
  • Chuck Hagel 1%
  • No Opinion 7%

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Giuliani Deserves a Second-Look From Socio-Cons

The Wall Street Journal's Brendan Miniter has a great piece today on Rudy's appeal to social conservatives. He argues that a president can't do much about abortion, other than appoint solid judges, which Rudy says he'll do. But beyond that, Rudy is tough enough to deliver on other major social issues, such as school choice. (Despite what the rock-headed pundits and lazy journalists say, there are MANY issues of interest to social conservatives, not just gays, guns, and gametes. Rudy is a solid Reaganite on nearly every other social issue).

Here is the money-paragraph:

Mr. Giuliani delivered his South Carolina speech to several dozen conservatives. One woman who attended told me she wonders whether electing a president who successfully took on the mob in New York is what it will take to finally break through the entrenched education political culture.
Marvelous.

I don't know if the NEA can be broken, but Mitt's too wishy-washy to do it, and McCain would not even try. Huckabee? WHAT?

I see Rudy taking them on, and he just might succeed.

Also, Mona Charen wrote a pretty good piece on Rudy last week. She referred to Rudy's tax cuts as "modest." I think they were more-than-modest, but the rest of the article was great.

-Deroy Murdock

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Rudy Rolls in February GOP Bloggers Poll

You can see the results here:

  • Rudy Giuliani 34.2%
  • Newt Gingrich 25.6%
  • Mitt Romney 15.2%
  • Tom Tancredo 6.2%
  • Sam Brownback 2.8%
  • John McCain 2.4%
  • Mike Huckabee 1.6%
  • Chuck Hagel .8%
  • Tommy Thompson .7%
  • Jim Gilmore .4%
  • George Pataki .1%
  • Since July 2006, Rudy has won five such polls, Newt two, and Mitt one.

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    Saturday, February 10, 2007

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Announces for President

    Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

    giulianifeb10bweb


    Before a packed and enthusiastic California Republican Party Convention throng, Rudy Giuliani announced today that he will seek the Presidency.

    During the speech, Hizzoner touched on a number of themes and issues without formally saying “I am formally announcing today I will seek the Presidency.”

    However, in the Press Gaggle after the speech, the Mayor when asked by Gina Garcia, Capitol Correspondent for Fox 11 News, Los Angeles, when he would formally announce, he replied, “I thought I just did.”

    Flap has video footage and photos that he will process, provision and get up to the net as soon as possible.

    Rudy Giuliani IS IN!





    The Quote:

    When asked a follow-up question about when he would make a formal announcement, he responded, “Well, formally announce? I don’t know. If you go back to my speech, I think I may have. I’m not sure…..”

    Well, is he in?

    You betcha…….

    giulianifeb10aweb


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    Rudy Giuliani: Supply-Sider-in-Chief

    Republican primary voters should rally around the GOP field's most accomplished supply-sider, the all-but-announced Rudolph W. Giuliani. Having sliced taxes and slashed Gotham's government, New York's former mayor is the leading fiscal conservative among 2008's GOP presidential contenders.

    Before Giuliani's January 1, 1994 inauguration, New York's economy was on a stretcher. Amid soaring unemployment, 235 jobs vanished daily. Financier Felix Rohatyn complained: "Virtually all human activities are taxed to the hilt." Punitive taxes helped fuel a $2.3 billion deficit.

    Mayor-elect Giuliani sounded Reaganesque when he announced he would "reduce the size and cost of city government" to balance the budget. In his first State of the City address, he said: "We're going to cut taxes to attract jobs so our people can work."

    Giuliani spent eight years keeping these promises.

    "America's Mayor" cut or killed 23 levies, saving taxpayers $9.8 billion. Giuliani pared Gotham's top income-tax rate by 20.6%. Washington, D.C.'s CFO reported that between 1993 and 2001, local taxes on a family of four New Yorkers earning $50,000 fell 23.7%.

    Giuliani cut the commercial-rent tax, curbed sales taxes, and curtailed the marriage penalty on taxpaying couples. Giuliani proudly shaved Gotham's hotel tax from 6% to 5 in 1994. Consequently, that tax's revenues soared from $135 million in Fiscal Year 1995 to $239 million in FY 2001.

    Giuliani defends his supply-side instincts with bracing candor. Asked after September 11 if he would hike taxes, Giuliani called that "a dumb, stupid, idiotic, and moronic thing to do."

    Giuliani's expenditure growth averaged 2.9% annually, while local inflation between January 1994 and December 2001 averaged 3.6%. His FY 1995 budget decreased outlays by 1.6%, while his post-9/11 FY 2002 plan lowered appropriations by 2.6%.

    If President Bush had followed Giuliani's example and limited Washington's spending to 2.9% average, annual growth, the just-unveiled FY 2008 federal budget would cost $2.275 trillion, not $2.9 trillion, saving taxpayers $625 billion, the Cato Institute's Stephen Slivinski estimates. Such Giulianian fiscal discipline would generate a $386 billion surplus, not an anticipated $239 billion deficit.

    Giuliani repeatedly privatized municipal assets. Giuliani sold WNYC radio for $20 million, WNYC-TV for $207 million, and Gotham’s share of the U.N. Plaza Hotel for $85 million. Divesting the New York Coliseum excised an eyesore from Columbus Circle and added $345 million to city coffers. Giuliani also let the private Central Park Conservancy manage Manhattan's fabled urban forest.

    These eight years of tax reduction and fiscal responsibility helped hammer unemployment from 10.4 percent in 1993 to 5.7 percent in 2001. Simultaneously, personal income advanced 53 percent.

    It's hard to compare a two-term ex-mayor, a one-term governor, and a four-term U.S. senator. Nevertheless, Cato's 2006 gubernatorial report card gives former Massachusetts chief executive Mitt Romney a "C." While the top personal tax rate fell 6 percent on his watch, thanks to a referendum voters approved before he arrived, Romney's first budget raised $140 million by closing corporate-tax loopholes. It also featured some $501.5 million in increased fees, including higher marriage licenses (from $4 to $50), pricier gun permits ($25 to $100), a $100 biannual fee for volunteer firefighters (rescinded under pressure), and a $10, previously free, ID card that lets the blind ride Boston public-transit gratis.

    Few in Congress expose outrageous federal boondoggles as fervently as does John McCain. However, he is an ambivalent tax fighter. According to Club for Growth research, McCain opposed President Clinton's 1993 tax increases and supported his 1997 capital gains tax cuts. He also voted to extend President Bush's 2003 tax cuts. For 2005, McCain earned a 78% National Taxpayers Union rating -- an "A."

    Unfortunately, McCain opposed President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. McCain voted against repealing the Death Tax in 2002. Also, in 1998, McCain embraced former Sen. Tom Daschle's (D.-S.D.) motion to approve Big Tobacco's Master Settlement Agreement, including a $1.10-per-pack cigarette-tax increase.

    "I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues," McCain conceded to Wall Street Journal editorialist Stephen Moore. "I still need to be educated."

    Conservatives seeking a proven leader to lasso taxes and rein in runaway spending have a natural choice for President: Rudolph W. Giuliani.

    -Deroy Murdock

    __________________________________________________

    This article originally appeared in Human Events on February 9th, 2007. It is reprinted here with the author's permission

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    Friday, February 09, 2007

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy vs. Hillary in 2008?

    Cross-Posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

    giulianifeb9aweb

    Peggy Noonan WSJ: New York, New York

    But it is significant that in Mrs. Clinton’s case, for the past 30 years, from 1978 through 2007–which is to say throughout most, almost all, of her adulthood–her view of America, and of American life, came through the tinted window of a limousine. (Now the view is, mostly, through the tinted window of an SUV.)

    From first lady of Arkansas through first lady of the United States to U.S. senator, her life has been eased and cosseted by staff–by aides, drivers, cooks, Secret Service, etc. Her life has been lived within a motorcade. And so she didn’t have to worry about crime, the cost of things, the culture. Status incubates. Rudy Giuliani was fighting a deterioration she didn’t have to face. That’s a big difference. It’s the difference between the New Yorker in the subway and the Wall Street titan in the town car.

    Indeed……..

    giulianifeb9bweb

    Previous:

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Trashing Rudy on Speaking Fees and Consulting

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Distorting Rudy’s Position on Justice Ginsburg

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: America’s Mayor Announces for President on Hannity and Colmes

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Video - Down South in South Carolina

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Rudy Down South in South Carolina

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: A Real Good Chance

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Dean Says Rudy is Sunk in GOP

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Gallup Poll Part II

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: Gallup Poll Part I

    The Rudy Giuliani Files


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    Tuesday, February 06, 2007

    Rudy Giuliani Watch: America’s Mayor Announces for President on Hannity and Colmes

    Cross-posted from the FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog

    Rudy Giuliani files a Statement of Candidacy

    Fox News: Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani Files Candidacy Statement for 2008 Race

    Making the most of his front-runner status, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Monday moved closer to a 2008 campaign for president, adjusting his paperwork to file a “statement of candidacy” with the Federal Election Commission.

    Click here to see the statement of candidacy.

    As a result, Giuliani remains in the “exploratory” stage, but the removal of words like “testing the waters” from his filings puts him in full swing to win the Republican nomination to be president.

    • Watch an exclusive interview with Giuliani on FOX News’ Hannity & Colmes tonight at 9 p.m. ET.

    The video where Hizoner all but formally announces is here and here

    Part Two:

    Here is the Transcript of the interview:

    HANNITY: I’m Sean Hannity. We get to our top story tonight. Earlier today former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani filed a statement of candidacy papers. Mayor Giuliani joins us for “Hannity & Colmes” exclusive. Congratulations or condolences?

    GIULIANI: A little of both. Mostly congratulations. It’s wonderful thing to be organizing and putting together and it’s very humbling to think that running for president of the united states is– for a kid from Brooklyn, it’s quite a step

    HANNITY: you are then officially running to be the next president of the United States.

    GIULIANI: Well. We still have to formally announce and do a few more things. But this is about as close as you get. We did everything you have to do I guess legally then you still have to make a formal announcement and things like that

    HANNITY: Are you in it to win it?

    GIULANI: Gosh yeah. That’s the only reason to do it. First thing you have to do is say to yourself what can I bring to it, what can I do that’s different and how can i make the country better? how can i improve it? i think the experiences that I’ve had as mayor of New York city, united states attorney, all of them very, very strongly kind of in the executive area where you have to have leadership and organization and focus and having dealt with a city that was really bad shape when I took over and I had to kind of turn around, i think it gives you the background to approach it and feel pretty comfortable that you can make a difference

    HANNITY: Democrat were predicting this back in November. November 14th as a matter of fact. They said it’s unclear whether or not Rudy Giuliani will be able to explain away the fact he has consistently taken positions completely opposite to the conservative republican base on issues they hold near and dear. That is accurate?

    GIULIANI: I don’t think anyone has campaigned much more than I have for republican candidates going back to 1998. I’ve been in 45 states on behalf of 200 candidates. All republicans. different– sometimes differences on issues here and there. but same basic philosophy of strong foreign policy being on offense against terrorism, smaller government, lower taxes. And in my case those are things that I did. Those things I just mentioned are not just things I believe in. I lowered taxes in New York. I reduced the size of government in New York. I took a $2.4 billion deficit and turned it into a $3.2 billion surplus. And I reduced taxes over 23 times.

    HANNITY: That’s pretty good.

    GIULIANI: Those are very conservative. On the issues– sometimes there are disagreements. You never agree with any one candidate 100%. You don’t even agree with me 100%. And I agree with you almost 100%

    HANNITY: That might get you in trouble. That’s the first campaign gaff. Let’s talk about the controversial issues. You will be asked about them. Where does Rudy Giuliaini stand on abortion? And do you think roe v. wade is a good law or bad law.

    GIULANI: I oppose it. I don’t like it. I hate it. I think abortion is something that is a personal matter I would advise something against. However, I believe in a woman’s right to choose. I think you have to ultimately not put a woman in jail for that. I think ultimately you have to leave that to a disagreement of conscience and have to respect the choice that somebody makes. So what I do say to conservatives because then you want to look at well okay what can we look to that is similar to the way you think. I think the appointment of judges that I would make would be very similar to if not exactly the same as the last two judges that were appointed. Chief Justice Roberts is somebody I work with, somebody I admire. Justice Alito, someone I knew when he was US attorney, also admire. If I had been president over the last four years, I can’t think of any– that I’d do anything different with that. I guess the key is and I appointed over 100 judges when I was the mayor so it’s something I take very, very seriously. I would appoint judges that interpreted the constitution rather than invented it. Understood the difference of being a judge and a legislator. And having argued a case before the Supreme Court, having argued in many, many courts is something I would take very seriously.

    HANNITY: So you would look for a Scalia, Roberts, Alito.

    GIULIANI: Scalia is another former colleague of mine and somebody I consider to be a great judge. You are never going to get somebody exactly the same. I don’t think you have a litmus test. But I do think you have a general philosophical approach that you want from a justice. I think a strict instruction would be probably the way I describe it.

    HANNITY: Is Roe bad?

    GIULIANI: I think that’s up to the court to decide. There are questions about the way it was decided and some of the basis for it. At this point it’s precedent. It’s going be very interesting to see what Chief Justice Roberts what Justices Scalia and Alito do with it. i think they’re probably going to limit it rather than overturn it. In other words, they’ll accept some of the limitations that different states have placed on it or the federal government has placed on it.

    HANNITY: Partial birth?

    GIULIANI: I think that’s going to be upheld. I think it should be. as long as there’s provision for the life of the mother then that’s something that should be done.

    HANNITY: There’s a misconception that you support a partial birth abortion.

    GIULIANI: If it doesn’t have provision for the mother I wouldn’t support the legislation. If it has provision for the life of the mother I would support

    HANNITY: Parental notification.

    GIULIANI: I think you have to have a judicial bypass. I think the court– I mean that’s the kind of thing i think the court will do with abortion. The other thing I should emphasize is while I was the mayor there’s a column just written about it, abortions in New York wept down and adoptions went way up. Because we work odd adoptions as an alternative. so it would be a real choice. So that ultimately you respect a woman’s choice. But it should be a real choice. adoption or if they make that choice I don’t think the criminal law can deal with it.

    HANNITY: I think conservatives would be happy with choices of Roberts, Scalia and Alito but there will be a disagreement on abortions.

    GIULIANI: There are always disagreements. And then some people just won’t be able to vote for you. You got to live with that. Reality is you got to be who you are. You got to be honest with people. If your views change you got to be willing to express it. When I was mayor my views changed. I began as mayor thinking I could reform the school system. After four years I became an advocate of choice, of scholarships and vouchers and parental choice because I thought that was the only way to really change the school system. When I started as mayor, I didn’t believe that. When I went through three or four years of experience, that’s what it taught me. I think you have to be willing– you have strong ideas, strong views. but then you have to be willing to look at experience.

    HANNITY: The issue of guns has come up a lot. When people talk about mayor Rudy Giuliani New York city had some of the toughest gun laws in the country. Do you support the right of people to carry handguns.

    GIULANI: I understand the second amendment. People have the right to bear arms. As mayor of New York I took over at a very, very difficult time. We were averaging—

    HANNITY: You inherited the gun laws in New York.

    GIULIANI: Yeah. And I used them to help bring down homicide. We reduced homicide I think by 65, 70%. And some of it was by taking guns out of the streets of New York City. So if you are talking about a city like New York, a densely populated area like New York, I think it’s appropriate. You might have different laws other places and maybe a lot of this gets resolved based on different states, different communities, making decisions. We do have a federal system of government in which you have the ability to accomplish that.

    HANNITY: So you would support the state’s rights to choose on specific gun laws?

    GIUILANI: Yeah. A place like New York that is densely populated or maybe a place that is experiencing a serious crime problem like a few cities are now. Thank goodness not New York but some other cities. Maybe you have one solution there and in other place more rural, more suburban, other issues you have a different set of rule.

    HANNITY: Generally speaking do you think it’s acceptable if citizens have the right to carry a handgun?

    GIULIANI: It’s part of the constitution. People have the right to bear arms. Then restrictions have to be reasonable and sensible. You can’t just remove that right. You got to regulate consistent with the second amendment

    HANNITY: How do you feel about the Brady Bill on assault ban.

    GIULIANI: I was in favor of that as part of the crime bill. Because I thought it was necessary to get the crime bill passed and also necessary with the 2000 murders or so we were looking at, 1800 to 2000 murders that I could use that in a tactical way to reduce crime. And I did.

    HANNITY: Let me ask you about gay marriage. What do you think about the definition of marriage? Should it be between a man and woman.

    GIULIANI: Marriage should be between a man and a woman. here is exactly the position I’ve always had. It’s the same– I feel the same way today that I did eight, ten years ago when i signed the domestic partnership legislation. Marriage should be between a man and woman and should remain that way. we should be tolerant, fair, open and understand the rights that all people have in society I. thought the best answer was domestic partnership as a way of dealing with that. so that you are recognizing the rights of people who are gay and protect them.

    HANNITY: How do you feel about the borders? It’s one of our most important security issues. There’s talk about building a fence. Do you support that? Do you support amnesty? Do you support guest worker?

    GIULIANI: I support security at the border. I think its enormously important in the post September 11th period. We have to know who is coming into this country. We have to be able to identify them and figure out who they are. I do think that with the fence– the fence honestly has to be a technological fence. The head of my party, the new head, Mel Martinez who is a Senator from Florida, a great guy, he was being interviewed and they asked him about a fence. Do you think a fence should be put up. He said sure. He said except the only people that will pull put it up will be the illegal immigrants. I thought what the point that Mel was making was we need a technological fence. We need to be able to photograph people, see them, know who is there, record them. And then I think there has to be regularization for the people that are here. There’s got to be a program to regularize the people that are here as you establish security at the border. And I would add to many of the proposals– because there are a number of them in the house, senate and president as put forward. I would add to that at the end of the road if somebody’s going to earn citizenship with– citizenship with whatever other hurdles put in the way, at the end of the road they should be able to speak English, read English and have some knowledge of American history. Particularly if you are going to regularize somebody who in an undocumented status.

    HANNITY: Does that mean amnesty.

    GIULIANI: It means earning it. Here’s the experience. I said I learn add lot from being mayor of New York city. We had a tremendous amount of crime. We did a survey. We figured out there are about 400,000 illegal or undocumented immigrants in New York city. The impact service deported 1500 a year that. Was the most they could deport. So I figured out I had 398,000. Now how do you handle that? What do you do with it? And then what we would catch drug dealers and criminals we’d turn them over to the immigration and naturalization service and say put them at the head of the line. get rid of the drug dealers and criminals first. They were dealing with somebody’s maid and somebody who maybe was teaching at a college and just didn’t have the right papers or somebody who was working in a restaurant and– well that’s all an issue. But the drug dealers and the criminals and now the terrorists are an issue. And if you have a law that isn’t working, and you have thousands and thousands and millions of people, then the terrorists hide among them. We have to have a law that makes sense. and that’s why I think you’ve got to come up with a solution that says much more security at the border, register people, document them, have english at the end of the line, but then have a system to regularize people as well.

    HANNITY: You got a lot of conservatives coming on board. Latest one is George rowe. Let me put up what he said about you. Is that true? Are you ready for that?

    GILUIANI: Yeah I’m as ready as anybody could be. I guess maybe more ready than some because I’ve—I mean I’ve lived through crisis. September 11th is the obviously biggest one that I’ve lived through. But being mayor of New York was a crisis a week and emergency every other day. You get use to it. I mean you get use to being able to keep focused, toe take advice, understand that you can’t get too excited on any one situation. you got to remain very focused and remain optimistic about the result. And you got to communicate with people.

    HANNITY: Let me ask about Iraq. You have been very supportive of the president and the Iraq war. Is there anything you would have done differently? Do you think there’s been any mistakes made?

    GIULIANI: Sure. The president has explained mistakes made.

    HANNITY: If were you the president.

    GIULIANI: I think he could go back and as we develop positions and explain things i think it’s quite appropriate to explain well I might have done it this way or more troops, I might have done it some other way. But here’s reality. We’re at war. And when we’re at war because they’re at war with us. I mean sometimes when you listen to these debates in congress and listen to politicians debating you get the impression the they we’re in control of whether we’re at war or not. it doesn’t matter what we think. They want to come here and kill us. And they did on September 11th. And they did a long time before September 11th. Way back in 1993 they came to this city and killed people. So we’ve got to put Iraq in the context of a much broader picture than just Iraq. And getting Iraq correctly, in other words, getting stability there is real important. And I support what the president has asked for support to do and what general petraeus has asked for support to do. Not because there’s any guarantee it’s going to work. There’s never a guarantee at war. But if we can come out with a correct solution or better solution that iraq it’s going to make the war on terror go better. We got to get beyond iraq.

    HANNITY: Have people forgotten?

    GIULIANI: It’s natural. i mean, you have a terrible attack like September 11th, 2001, right in the aftermath of it there’s tremendous unity. We understand that we have to be on offense against terrorists. That we have to make it bipartisan. This isn’t about being a democrat or republican, it’s about being an American. Now you get further away and that lesson isn’t as vivid. and all wars have that happen. This is a difficult thing to do. But we’ve got to start getting beyond Iraq. We got to be thinking about Iran. We have to think about Syria. We have to be thinking about Pakistan and Afghanistan and making sure that the transition in Afghanistan goes correctly. We have to be ready for the fact that whatever happens in Iraq, success or failure– success will help in the war on terror. Failure will hurt. But the war is still going on. They want to come here and kill us.

    HANNITY: If you are president the baker report recommends taking down with ahmadinejad.

    GIULIANI: I thought you almost can’t put it up front. The minute you put it up front you give them all the leverage add take all the leverage away from us. That recommendation would have been better delivered secretly. Then you– then through back channels you find out. Can achieve something with ahmadinejad? Can I achieve something with syria? Right now it doesn’t look that way. Better thing to do Iran is to put pressure on them and let them know that we will not accept their being a nuclear power. The nightmare of the cold war was nuclear weapons in the hands of an irrational person. I don’t want to live through that nightmare.

    HANNITY: We’re almost out of time. Who is the bigger Yankee fan, you or Hillary?

    GILUIANI: We could do a debate on Yankee trivia and find out. [laughter] .

    HANNITY: Your thoughts on Hillary, Barak Obama, John Edwards.

    GILUIANI: I think they’re ‘all worthy people and going to fight it out for the democratic nomination. Right now it looks like Hillary. All you can do is look at polls. Right now she is ahead. But it’s long way away. None of these races are over yet.

    HANNITY: Senator McCain, Newt Gingrich.

    GIULIANI: All good men. I respect all of them. I think I’ve campaigned with each one of them. I campaigned for mitt when he became governor of Massachusetts. I campaigned many, many times together with senator McCain. He’s campaigned for me.

    HANNITY: If you get the nomination do you have any doubt you would beat Hillary Clinton?

    GIULIANI: I’m in this to win i. have no idea who is going to get the nomination. But you do this because you believe that you can win the nomination of your party then you believe that you are the strongest candidate to win the election for your party.

    HANNITY: Name three people you would think of for vice president.

    GIULIANI: Can’t name vice presidents right now. I just told you three worthy people. Three great men. You can’t be thinking about vice president at this point. It’s enough to think about how to put this together, how to get it organized, how to get it announced, how to put together together the fundraising, what the major issues are and how to best articulate them to the American people to show leadership and strength. my campaign is going to be about the future. I mean the past is what we have to learn about how to direct America to the future. America to the future. The whole purpose of doing this is because you can make this country better.

    HANNITY: As mayor of New York, I can’t wait. If you were president it would be interesting. I don’t think anyone’s seen a press conference until they’ve seen a mayor Rudy Giuliani press conference.

    GIULIANI: I told Tony Blair once it reminds me of the same thing he would go through every week with the question-and-answer period in the parliament. Combative. It means every single day you have to know what the heck is going on. if you don’t there are at least two or three members of the press that will make you look like a fool.

    HANNITY: Best of luck to you. Thank you for being here.

    ******

    Flap maintains the “FORMAL” announcement will be at the California GOP convention on Saturday, February 10 in Sacramento.

    Run Rudy Run

    Stay tuned……

    giulianijan27lweb

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