It would seem a good thing that Rudy Giuliani supports gun control since he has shot himself in the foot for the second time in two weeks.
First, he told Barbara Walters that he would feel "very comfortable" having his wife, Judith Nathan sit in on and participate in Cabinet meetings. This quickly brought to mind Hillary Clinton "helping" her husband, then-President Bill Clinton, with national health care. Rudy's campaign was forced to help him "clarify" his statement, indicating that he did not mean to say his wife would have any official policy role.
That would have been seen as an isolated and minor blunder until yesterday's major gaffe. While interviewing Rudy, Dana Bash of CNN, reminded him of a statement he made in support of public funding of abortion. The original statement was made years ago. Incredibly, when asked if he still held those views, Rudy said, in sum and substance, that he did. And if that wasn't bad enough, he went on to state that abortion is a constitutional right.
His campaign rushed in to bandage the other foot, and Rudy effectively recanted, as noted in the National Review Online. But the damage has been done. I have seen quite a bit of conservative comment going very negative towards him. Let's face it; abortion is an issue of great power for many Christian Conservatives. Many of them have been willing to give Rudy the benefit of the doubt. This statement will reinforce their fears about him.
As you know, I am a strong Giuliani supporter, but these slip-ups have left me puzzled. I can't believe that Rudy doesn't already have an answer for any question that is likely to be raised on the abortion issue or any of the other "values" issues that he has been called to task about. I assume that he is serious about being President, but if so, he had better figure out that he has to be prepared to answer certain questions. I don't expect (or want) him to hide his views, but he has to have answers that put those views in the best possible light.
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2 comments:
Maybe Rudy is not speaking from conviction(hard to believe that such a politician could exist) but from expediency and that can be dangerous if you don't have an excellent memory.
mz
Actually, Marc, I do think Rudy is speaking from conviction. Maybe a little too much so.
He has made little effort to distance himself from his "liberal" (relatively speaking) positions on the three issues nearest and dearest to Conservatives, gun control, same-sex marriage, and most of all, abortion.
I'm glad he isn't pandering like "life-long hunter" Mitt Romney or Hillary "If I knew then what I know now" Clinton, but he could consider a little more nuance when he talks about abortion.
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