THE DAILY BLADE: Rudy, Rudy, Rudy
Speakers at the 34th annual
Can’t Buy Me Real Love
While Mitt Romney had
spent G-d knows how much money to bus 225 student volunteers to the event and outfit them with T-shirts, signs and giant red foam mitts, the dial on the Applause-o-Meter clearly registered more enthusiasm for Rudy – who just showed up and gave his speech to the crowd of young Republicans and grass-roots conservative activists.Romney led the pack as the first choice to become the nominee in 2008 in the CPAC straw poll (see below) – by no means scientific in
methodology – but Rudy was da bomb. Here is Michelle Malkin’s sketch of the scene, plus highlights from Rudy’s speech (CPAC-apalooza):Applause for Giuliani's entrance was strong. … The Mayor walked through his policies on taxes, welfare reform, American education, and finally national security and terrorism. About two seconds total devoted to immigration and border security, but his praise for Reagan and his closing remarks about the war were well received.
Quotable:
"I believe the Republican Party's greatest contribution is when we give more freedom to people."
"America will prevail against the Islamic terrorists. I have no doubt."
"Maybe we made a mistake in calling this the war on terrorism. This is not our war on them. This is their war on us." (Prolonged applause.)
"This war ins [sic] over when they stop planning to come over here and kill us. Until then, we have to remain on offense against terrorists."
"America has the right ideas. We should not be embarrassed by ourselves. We are the luckiest people in the world."
Here are excerpts from Romney’s speech, which touched on the state of conservatism, McCain-Feingold and fiscal responsibility in government – this last bit delivered with a smug demeanor and a smirk that set The Stiletto’s teeth on edge – from a
press release posted on his campaign Web site:"If I am elected President, I will cap non-defense discretionary spending at inflation minus 1 percent. That alone will save $300 billion over 10 years."
"And I know how to veto. I like vetoes. I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as Governor. And, by the way, if Congress doesn't want to do the cutting itself, then give me the same line item veto I had as governor."
"It's time to cut out the mountains of waste and inefficiency and duplication in the federal government. I've done that in business, I've done that in the Olympics, and I've done that in Massachusetts. And boy, I can't wait to get my hands on Washington."
Can Buy Me Straw Poll Votes
Larding the audience with his supporters gave Romney the advantage over Rudy in the
CPAC straw poll (PowerPoint presentation). But just as Google’s organic search results have a higher conversion rate than sponsored (paid) links, Rudy’s organic second place showing may ultimately prove more suggestive of his ability to go the distance than Romney’s paid win. Keeping in mind that this poll is informal, that the results include declared and potential candidates (notably, Newt Gingrich) and that the demographics of the 1,705 respondents skew very heavily towards males (67 percent) and young voters (53 percent are students; 62 percent are bewteen the ages of 18 and 25), here are some key results from the straw poll:1st Choice To Become The Republican Nominee in 2008: Romney: 21 percent; Giuliani: 17 percent; Brownback: 15 percent; Gringrich: 14 percent; McCain: 12 percent; others: less than 5 percent.
2nd Choice: Gringrich and Giulinani: 16 percent (tie); Romney: 9 percent; Brownback and McCain: 8 percent (tie); Huckabee: 6 percent; Hunter and Tancredo: 5 percent (tie); others: less than 5 percent.
Combined 1st & 2nd Choice: Giuliani: 34 percent; Gingrich and Romney: 30 percent (tie); Brownback: 24 percent; McCain 20 percent; Tancredo: 9 percent; Huckabee: 8 percent; Hunter: 7 percent; Gilmore and Paul: 6 percent (tie); others: less than 5 percent.
Among those who said their most important goal was to promote individual freedom by limiting the size scope of government (50 percent of respondents): Romney: 21 percent; Giuliani: 20 percent; Gringrich: 15 percent; McCain: 12 percent; Brownback: 9 percent; others: less than 5 percent.
Among those who said their most important goal was to promote the traditional values by protecting heterosexual marriage and unborn babies (30 percent of respondents): Brownback: 29 percent; Romney: 22 percent; Gringrich: 13 percent; Giuliani and McCain: 8 percent (tie); others: less than 5 percent.
Among those who said their most important goal was to secure the safety of America at home and abroad regardless of the cost or the size of government (18 percent of respondents): Giuliani: 25 percent; Romney: 21 percent; McCain: 18 percent; Brownback: 11 percent; Gringrich: 9 percent; others: less than 5 percent.
Clearly, Rudy’s strength is national security and his Achilles heel is traditional values. But while Rudy is regarded as the strongest national security candidate by the CPAC crowd, Romney is not regarded the strongest values candidate (might have something to do with his flip-flopping on
abortion, campaign finance reform, gun control, gay rights, minimum wage, immigration, and tax cuts).And because Rudy and Romney both have hands-on experience running big governments, they were neck-and-neck among the respondents whose Number One issue is reducing the size and scope of government. How Conservatives Can Learn To Stop Worrying And Love da BombAs farfetched as it seems, the first Republican presidential primary races since Sept. 11 and the devastating mid-term elections may show that cultural and religious conservatives in the Republican Party are willing to put aside ideological purity on social issues to back a candidate who is strong on national security and terrorism – and who has the name recognition to win.
Columnist and
Wizbang blogger Lorie Byrd offers a window into the thought processes of such conservative voters:If I thought the most important task the next American President would face would be dealing with abortion policy or protecting second amendment rights, a Giuliani candidacy would not arouse my interest. Because I will be looking to the next President first and foremost to address issues of foreign policy and national security, though, Giuliani is a candidate I am enthusiastically considering.
It is clear to me that even in a best case scenario, there will still be enough to do in Iraq when President Bush leaves office, that his successor will devote the majority of his or her time and attention to matters of foreign policy and national security. Even if Iraq were miraculously transformed into a perfect model of democracy and tranquility over the next two years, there would be enough challenges from countries like Iran and North Korea, and from international terrorist groups, to keep national security priority number one.
I have written in the past about
When I look at candidates, though, I am considering the biggest challenges the next President will face. …
We need a leader committed to finishing the job in Iraq and addressing the threat of global terrorism. Rudy Giuliani did not quit in New York City when the odds were against him and I don’t believe he will give up when faced with some of the great challenges this country will face over the next decade.
But City Journal contributing editor Steven Malanga argues that conservatives who are looking for leadership on national security and the War on Terror don’t have to hold their noses to vote for "America’s Mayor," because he’s really one of them:[I]n a GOP presidential field in which cultural and religious conservatives may find something to object to in every candidate who could really get nominated (and, more important, elected), Mr. Giuliani may be the most conservative candidate on a wide range of issues. Far from being a liberal, he ran New York with a conservative's priorities. Government exists above all to keep people safe in their homes and in the streets, he said, not to redistribute income, run a welfare state, or perform social engineering. The private economy, not government, creates opportunity, he argued; government should just deliver basic services well and then get out of the private sector's way. He denied that cities and their citizens were victims of vast forces outside their control, and he urged New Yorkers to take personal responsibility for their lives. …
New Yorkers who had watched their city deteriorate were more frightened of life under an outdated and ineffective liberal agenda. Mr. Giuliani rode to victory in 1993 with heavy support from the same white ethnic Democratic voters who, a decade earlier, had crossed party lines even in liberal New York to vote for Ronald Reagan.
To those of us who observed Mr. Giuliani from the beginning, it was astonishing how fully he followed through on his conservative principles once elected, no matter how much he upset elite opinion, no matter how often radical advocates took to the streets in protest, no matter how many veiled (and not-so-veiled) threats that incendiary figures like Al Sharpton made against him, and no matter how often the New York Times fulminated against his policies. …
Today, Americans see Mr. Giuliani as presidential material because of his leadership in the wake of the terrorist attacks, but to those of us who watched him first manage America's biggest city when it was crime-ridden, financially shaky and plagued by doubts about its future as employers and educated and prosperous residents fled in droves, Mr. Giuliani's leadership on 9/11 came as no surprise. What Americans saw after the attacks is a combination of attributes that Mr. Giuliani governed with all along: the tough-mindedness that had gotten him through earlier civic crises, a no-nonsense and efficient management style, and a clarity and directness of speech that made plain what he thought needed to be done and how he would do it.
San Francisco Chronicle
columnist Debra Saunders praises Giuliani for sticking to his guns in his support for the increasingly unpopular Iraq war, showing him to be a man of principled conviction, as opposed to a pandering, flip-flopping opportunist:Giuliani had no problem comparing Bush's situation today with that of President Abraham Lincoln during the dark days of the Civil War. Giuliani noted that naysayers dismissed Lincoln as a dimwitted incompetent during the 1863 draft riots in New York and the crushing military defeats that occurred before Lincoln found the right general in Ulysses S. Grant. Because Lincoln did not give in to defeat, the Union prevailed and slavery died.
Giuliani added, "In time of war, you don't talk about pulling out."
Except in time of elections in time of war, when politicians do talk about pulling out. Some Democrats argue that Bush should end the war to show that he has heard the message voters sent in November 2006. Never mind that, now in power, the Democrats remain afraid to cut off war funding lest they be blamed if events in Iraq blow up in their faces. So they stick to nonbinding resolutions. …
Who will win in 2008? The Republicans clearly could lose even more in 2008 than they lost in 2006. But if it were certain that supporting the Iraq war is the political kiss of death, Democrats and antiwar Republicans would move to cut off funding, instead of debating nonbinding resolutions.
When Giuliani addressed Republicans, he had a message of hope. Giuliani showed that he was willing to stick to an unpopular position, which suggests there are some things he would not do to win an election.
You may not agree with Rudy’s position on abortion, gun control and other issues (The Stiletto certainly does not) but at least you know what you’re getting, because Rudy says what he means and he means what he says.
He brought social order and financial stability to a city that was written off as "ungovernable" – there was even talk of Staten Island seceding. He kept his head on 9/11 when all about him were losing theirs. Throughout his tenure as New York’s mayor he trusted himself when The New York Times, the ACLU and New York’s liberal elite doubted and lied about him.
Rudy is clearly a man for our times. The Stiletto voted for him twice and she would vote for him again, should the race come down to Rudy v. Romney.
Cherokee People, Cherokee Tribe
The 250,000-member
The Washington Post
reports that tribal officials view citizenship as a matter of self-determination: "It's a basic, inherent right to determine our own citizenry. We paid very dearly for those rights," Cherokee Principal Chief Chad Smith said in an interview last month in Oklahoma City."Admittedly, The Stiletto was surprised to learn that Cherokees – and other Native American tribes - had enslaved blacks. All her schoolbooks categorically stated that slavery was
A White Thing, and none of her teachers challenged, contradicted or corrected this racist calumny.The Stiletto was also struck by the strong conviction among tribal leaders of the Cherokee, Creek and Seminole Nations that they have the right to decide who is - and is not - one of them. No apologies, no reparations.
Drivin' Sister
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and
Yerevan Mayor Yervand Zakharyan recently signed an agreement making the capital of Armenia, the newest Sister City of Los Angeles. LA has the largest Armenian population outside of Armenia, and the mayors of both cities will share cultural and economic opportunities.When he was Speaker of the California Assembly, Villaraigosa supported resolutions to have the State of California recognize the Armenian Genocide, and recently sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi supporting a Congressional resolution that
U.S. foreign policy acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and asking her to bring it to a vote on the House floor.Yerevan is also a
Sister City of Cambridge, MA.
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March 30, 2007
The Stiletto wrote:
In a recent column, Dick Morris called Mitt Romney a "corpse" and a "political duck decoy" who "can’t get nominated or even become the consensus candidate of the right wing." He's trailing badly in the polls, The Associated Press reports: Romney has lagged behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain in the polls, often with support registering in the single digits. He also trails such better-known Republicans as Gingrich and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson - who are weighing presidential bids - when their names are added to the mix of ...
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