The Lesser of Two Moderates

I agree with Charlie Sykes in saying that if the 2008 GOP primary election were today I would more then likely vote for former-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. As liberal as Giuliani is on a variety of political issues, specifically abortion, his record on crime, his firm resolution in the aftermath of September 11th, his stance on the war against terrorism, and his pro-choice view of education, a speech of which he gave at a luncheon this past week where he endorsed Mark Green as the GOP candidate in the Wisconsin governor’s race, has me swayed. That doesn’t mean I will agree with him on everything. I was a resolute Bush supporter in the 2004 presidential election, everybody at Marquette University knows that, but I have criticized the administration on a number of issues, no more so then the Harriet Miers debacle, as well since then. But then again what else did you expect. Bush ran for a second term as president on the promise of compassionate conservatism and that is exactly what we have paid for over the past two years. You get what you vote for.

But in all honesty as much as Giuliani’s softness on key Republican political issues which matter most to me, particularly illegal immigration (having sued the federal government to protect illegal immigrants in NYC from having to cooperate with the INS) and gay marriage (he at the moment does support an outright ban), worries me, I would be less worried with him then I would if Senator John McCain was elected as the GOP presidential candidate. I respect the man as a veteran of the Vietnam War and for sticking with the president in the war against terrorism but I have serious issues with his loyalty (there was extensive discussion about the Arizona senator being selected as the vice-presidential candidate for Senator John Kerry in the 2004 campaign) not to mention his views on abortion (he would not if asked overturn the Roe v. Wade decision), illegal immigration (remember, he teamed up with Ted Kennedy in proposing a bill which reward illegal immigrants and did nothing to enforce immigration laws on the border), interrogation methods of foreign suspects, and the whole McCain-Feingold disaster (what a waste of funds and paper that was).