CE Week #8: “Giuliani pushes for ‘values voters’”
Romney, Huckabee win multimedia poll
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Jim Kuhnhenn
Associated Press
October 21, 2007
WASHINGTON – Rudy Giuliani tried to find peace Saturday with a restless bloc of the Republican Party, telling religious conservatives not to fear him for his stand on issues such as abortion or expect he would change purely for political advantage.
The GOP presidential candidate won praise for simply showing up before an audience that has been casting about for the best social conservative in the Republican field. But former governors Mitt Romney, of Massachusetts, and Mike Huckabee, of Arkansas, shared the limelight with the former New York mayor, handily winning the top two spots in a straw poll of “values voters” conducted by the conservative Family Research Council.
Giuliani sought common ground with Christian conservatives by casting himself as an imperfect man who has asked for guidance through prayer. He recalled crossing himself during his first day of law school after 16 years of attending Catholic schools.
He offered assurances that despite his support for abortion rights, he would seek to lower the number of abortions. He pledged that if elected, he would appoint conservative judges, support school choice and insist on victory in Iraq – all issues important to the audience at the Values Voter Summit.
The straw poll, conducted online and at the conference, placed Giuliani in eighth place, second to last. The top vote-getter was Romney, who unlike Giuliani, worked actively to encourage supporters to vote for him. Huckabee was close behind, but won overwhelmingly among voters who cast the ballots onsite at the event.
In a 40-minute speech that drew respectful applause, Giuliani invoked, as he often does, Ronald Reagan’s admonition that “my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy.”
“My belief in God and reliance on his guidance is at the core of who I am, I can assure you of that,” Giuliani said. “But isn’t it better for me to tell you what I believe rather than change my positions to fit the prevailing wind?”
It was among his better received lines.
“He won simply by coming,” said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which sponsored the three-day conference. “He helped himself; he certainly didn’t lose any ground.”
But his reception was in stark contrast to the ovations for Huckabee, a one-time Baptist preacher who is a sentimental favorite of many religious conservatives.
Huckabee mixed humor, biblical references and the rhythms of a man used to the pulpit as he implored the crowd to put values above politics and not make expedient decisions.
He called for a constitutional amendment declaring marriage to be between a man and a woman and decried the “holocaust of liberalized abortion.”
“We do not have the right to move the standards of God to meet cultural norms. We need to move the cultural norms to meet God’s standards,” he said, bringing the crowd to its feet.
Their GOP rivals, in speeches Friday, courted the conservative religious voters, who have a tradition of influence in elections.
Romney has been assiduously courting social conservatives, trying to erase doubts over his Mormon faith and his past support of abortion rights.
Giuliani’s speech was an important milestone in his search for the Republican presidential nomination. He supports abortion rights and has moderate views on immigration and gay rights. Married three times and distanced from his son and daughter, Giuliani made a rare reference to his personal troubles.
“You and I know that I’m not a perfect person,” he said. “I’ve made mistakes in my life, but I’ve always done the best that I could to learn from them.”
His front-runner status in the crowded GOP 2008 field has dismayed some social conservative leaders. Some even have contemplated supporting a third-party candidate if Giuliani is the Republican nominee.
“People of good conscience reach different conclusions about whether abortions should be legal in certain circumstances,” Giuliani said while vowing to increase adoptions.
“We may not always agree,” he said. “I don’t always agree with myself. But I will give you reason to trust me.”
Giuliani did not mention the subject of gay marriage in his remarks. Gary Bauer, a Christian activist and former presidential candidate, said Giuliani should have addressed the issue. But, he added, Giuliani helped himself by offering assurances on other fronts.
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Giuliani is definitely a more liberal republican. He is pro-choice and is for gay-marriage. Not only are his stances liberal, but his lifestyle is too. Giuliani has more baggage than the typical conservative. Many conservatives marry once and their family is the center of their life. Giuliani has had three marriages and he is not close with his kids. With all of that stated, is it possible for Giuliani to win the conservative vote? Giuliani is trying to persuade the conservatives by telling them that abortions will be minimal and he will balance himself out with a conservative staff, but I wonder how many of the conservative votes he will win. I think that Giuliani would have a better chance winning the votes of unhappy Democrats than winning the votes of conservative Republicans. If Hillary Clinton is the nominated Democrat, Giuliani, I believe, could possibly win some of the Democrat votes. Hillary is either loved or hated and that could benefit her opposing candidate. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are the ideal conservatives for the conservative Republicans. They are both very religious and very family oriented. I do not believe that Huckabee has the name recognition to win though. Mitt Romney is the other Republican front-runner and depending how he does in the primaries and caucuses, I think that he has a good shot at being the Republican candidate. Giuliani, I think, will still manage to win the Republican nomination despite his more liberal stances. If he does win, hopefully during the presidential election he can still find a way to appeal to the conservatives.
Ugh.. I can’t stand people that would rise to their feet after Huckabee says “We need to move the cultural norms to meet God’s standards” I really don’t think there is anything wrong with gay marriage or abortion. Thats why I really like Guiliani. He’s got a really liberal social policy but is conservative on things like war and taxes. And he’s sticking to his guns. you have to give him credit for that. Mit Romeny has flipped his stance on abortion to reach a certain demographic yet Guiliani stays firm on his beleifs. Guiliani has also admitted that he’s made some mistakes. I really respect that. I do really hope that Guiliani gets the republican nomination. I agree with Brittney that Huckabee just wont make it, but I also think that Mit Romney being mormon won’t please evangelicals. Guiliani has it made for the GOP candidate. Even if he can’t gain the support of the really conservative. I think he can swing a lot of moderates like me that have liberal social views. He may even gain some of the democrat vote if hillary is nominated. It probably wouldn’t hurt to get a vice presidential nominee that appeals to the conservative crowd. Thats probably a given.
I really feel that the GOP nomination will dwindle down to a battle between Giuliani and Romney. It is still too early to say who actually gets it though; I am kind of leaning towards Giuliani because, while he doesn’t completely appeal to the “die-hard” Christian Conservatives, he has the support of many moderates and the ability to sway more. The fact that he is economically conservative and supports the War on Terror (perhaps since he was the Mayor of NYC?), yet socially fairly liberal (if you look at the issues) I believe will win him over many votes. He is very opinionated, and I like the fact that he does not put on an act. He has admitted to having problems, and he continually sticks to his guns, as Corbin puts it. He has a specific view on almost every issue, and doesn’t sway for one group. Another thing that Corbin pointed out… it makes me want to gag when Mike Huckabee gets a standing ovation from delivering a line like, “We need to move the cultural norms to meet God’s standards,” instead of vice versa. While I would call myself a Christian, the whole Southern drawl “Praise Jesus!” thing makes me glad I live in the Northwest. And nothing against Jesus. The world and culture is an ever-changing thing… up-to-date issues such as gay marriage and abortion are not going to simply go away; therefore, I like the fact that Giuliani has realistic views on such issues.
Hopefully I didn’t sound like too much of a Republican.
I totaly agree with what Britney said. Guiliani is probably one of the most liberal Republicans. His politics are much more liberal than conservatives since he supporst things like abortion. Also his family life seems to less conservative than most. But that doesnt make him a bad candidate that just makes him normal theses days. I think that Guiliani will have a better chance of getting elected as president than most Republicans would because he is more liberal of a Republican and he represents change which is one of the top of peoples priorities because of Bush. So alot of voter are inclined to just not even bother with the Republican party and just vote Democrat so we dont have another president like Bush. But I think Guiliani would have good chance of changes alot of peoples minds about Republicans because he isn’t the standard Republican. He finds himself in the middle somewhere is no mans land. He does support abortion which makes 1/2 the U.S. happy but he also promises to limet the amount of abortions which gets himself another 1/4 or the people. So although Guiliani is not my first pick for the Repulican nomine I still thing he could do big things.