I’m writing this from the Hyatt Hotel across the street from the California State Capitol here in Sacramento. Tomorrow, America’s Mayor will be visiting this hotel to keynote the California Republican State Convention.
Mayor Giuliani, as we all know, has all but announced his intention to throw his hat in the ring for the 2008 presidential election. If California moves up its primary (which is all but certain at this point), the Mayor could be a huge beneficiary – most polls show him leading the pack. His California organization is being put together by his friend, and former California GOP Gubernatorial nomineee Bill Simon, Jr. We’ll be writing more about Simon’s efforts as we look at the California-specific efforts of all of the major GOP candidates…
It is interesting to note that Mayor Giuliani holds leads in several early primary states where the Republican electorate is comprised of social conservatives (Iowa and South Carolina). It’s surprising because of the Mayor’s positions such as abortion (he has articulated his support in the past for partial-birth abortions), the Second Amendment (he has articulated his support in the past for gun control), and on immigration (he has opposed efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants in the United States, and in New York, specifically).
Along with over a thousand GOPers, I will be intent on the Mayor’s speech tomorrow — one that clearly he and his team have thought about a lot. My question is how the Mayor is going to address these issues, where he is ‘out of touch’ with mainstream GOP activists? One of his opponents, former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney, who also had stated some liberal positions in his previous campaigns for office in New England, has articulated a change of heart, and is quite clear that he is not the same Mitt Romney – he’s more conservative.
Tomorrow will we see Rudy 2.0, where he has ‘seen the light’ on these issues? Or will he simply hope that candor will trump disagreement, that ‘leadership style’ will win over GOPers that disagree with him on some major issues…?
As the campaign progresses, we will see whether America’s Mayor can transcend his position on social issues to capture the nomination or will he fall victim to what I anticipate will be plenty of You Tube clips like the one below. Check this one out — and let me say that being pro-immigration is great, so I don’t take issue with him saying that in that in the video below.
But the reference to Clinton in this February 2000 Meet The Press Clip is about Giuliani challenging the Clinton administration for wanting to go after criminal aliens. I’ve attached an article from Newsday that ran at the time to provide some context for FR readers.
Essentially, America’s Mayor seems to want to stop the federal government from going after people who are in the country illegally
(Let me re-emphasize — my issue in the clip is not the Mayor articulating support for immigration. Our country was founded on immigrants, and immigrants continue to be an important part of what makes America great. My issue is with the fact that he uses as his demonstration of proof that he support immigration, his opposition to legislation that would help the federal government crack down on ILLEGAL immigration. Big difference!)
Don’t be surprised if someone asks for clarification on this tomorrow…
Note to Giuliani’s speechwriters: illegal immigration is the #1 issue about which California Republicans are passionate. This speech represents a significant opportunity for you to distance yourself from the Bush/Kennedy plan. Will you take it?
I have not picked a favorite candidate for 2008, have you? I want to make sure that our GOP candidate for President is able to run a campaign where they have a distinctly different position on illegal immigration and amnesty plans the ones supported by Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama…
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