Giuliani's stand on abortion rights? Who cares.
I'm sure much will be made of this Giuliani interview in which he seems to stand by the pro-choice stances he took when he was running for New York City's mayor.
If strict adherence to religious right positions were mandatory, Sam Brownback would be leading in the polls. If strict adherence to conservative Republican principals, McCain would still be the inevitable nominee.
No, as Digby and Greenwall have repeatedly pointed out, this isn't something that's likely to sink Giuliani's chances in the GOP primaries. Giuliani slakes the thirst of the Republican faithful for an authoritarian figure. One that will make them feel safe and won't put niceties such as the Constitution in the way of battling the swarthy men who want to kill them in their beds. Furthermore, Giuliani knows -- and eventually the radical clerics on the Right will come around to agree -- that all he has to do is invoke the code of "strict constructionist judges" to appease those who oppose a woman's right to choose. All he has to do is say that Roberts and Alito are exactly the choice of judges he'd make and he's golden. Best of all, it gives him the leeway he'll need in the general election so that he won't have to veer back towards the center to appeal to suburban moms.
The beauty of it all is, though, that if Giuliani is able to grab the nomination, the culture war issues will be recognizably dead. If Republican "values voters" can pull the lever for a thrice divorced guy (married to a thrice divorced wife), who believes there's a constitutional right to abortion, once roomed with a gay couple, humiliated his children, and now says he'll invite his wife to cabinet meetings, then they just don't care about all of the stuff we've been told matters so much to them the last 17 years.
If strict adherence to religious right positions were mandatory, Sam Brownback would be leading in the polls. If strict adherence to conservative Republican principals, McCain would still be the inevitable nominee.
No, as Digby and Greenwall have repeatedly pointed out, this isn't something that's likely to sink Giuliani's chances in the GOP primaries. Giuliani slakes the thirst of the Republican faithful for an authoritarian figure. One that will make them feel safe and won't put niceties such as the Constitution in the way of battling the swarthy men who want to kill them in their beds. Furthermore, Giuliani knows -- and eventually the radical clerics on the Right will come around to agree -- that all he has to do is invoke the code of "strict constructionist judges" to appease those who oppose a woman's right to choose. All he has to do is say that Roberts and Alito are exactly the choice of judges he'd make and he's golden. Best of all, it gives him the leeway he'll need in the general election so that he won't have to veer back towards the center to appeal to suburban moms.
The beauty of it all is, though, that if Giuliani is able to grab the nomination, the culture war issues will be recognizably dead. If Republican "values voters" can pull the lever for a thrice divorced guy (married to a thrice divorced wife), who believes there's a constitutional right to abortion, once roomed with a gay couple, humiliated his children, and now says he'll invite his wife to cabinet meetings, then they just don't care about all of the stuff we've been told matters so much to them the last 17 years.
posted by John at 10:50 AM
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