Rhymes With Right

June 12, 2007

Conservatives Against Rudy?

Frankly, I don't see there being much likelihood of conservatives bolting the party if Rudy gets the GOP nomination, despite the premise of this article.

A growing number of influential social conservatives are speaking out against Rudy Giuliani, with some threatening that they will take flight from the Republican Party in 2008 if the former New York mayor is the GOP nominee.
Giuliani's support for abortion rights and gay rights has not to date prevented him from winning the support of a sizable number of socially conservative voters, according to polls. But the continued strength of his candidacy is causing alarm among leaders of conservative advocacy groups, many of which have been major players in Republican politics.

Why don't I see this happening? Simple -- I don't see Rudy being on the GOP ticket in 2008, and certainly not in the top spot. He's going to the convention with a bunch of delegates, but not enough to win. And if we end up with some sort of brokered convention, my guess will be that we get a Romney-Thompson or Thompson-Romney ticket -- with Rudy offered the AG spot and an eventual Supreme Court seat and McCain installed as Secretary of Defense.

But let's assume for a minute that we are going to see Giuliani at the head of a GOP ticket -- what then? Are these conservatives really going to stay home or vote for a third-party ticket when the result will be the election fo a president much more hostile to their values? Will President Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama, or President John Edwards really help advance the pro-life, pro-family agenda more than President Rudy Giuliani? I'd like to think that these folks will recognize that the impact of that third-party vote would be infinitely worse that the impact for a vote for Rudy and a GOP Congress.

Posted by: Greg at 02:11 AM | Comments (31) | Add Comment
Post contains 315 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Giuliani, Mr. RINO, won't make it past the primaries, him or McCain either one, I'd vote for a REAL Dem before a FAKE Repub again... And you can bet the farm on this, Conservatives will sit this one out before they vote for those 2 guys for ANYTHING..

Posted by: TexasFred at Tue Jun 12 02:53:55 2007 (9OWgm)

2 Are these conservatives really going to stay home or vote for a third-party ticket when the result will be the election fo a president much more hostile to their values?

Yes. We must think long-term. If Giuliani wins the nomination and then the election, it will send the message that the Republican Party does not need pro-life and pro-family people as its leaders. Under that scenario, the GOP will be lost as a vehicle for social conservatism.

Moreover, you cannot be an effective fiscal conservative without being pro-traditional family. The economic importance of the traditional nuclear family cannot be overstated. We have "social security" only because we lack "family security."

Posted by: Jason at Tue Jun 12 05:55:07 2007 (h4mCH)

3 I've got to disagree with you here -- the notion that we should damage the US more by allowing a Democrat in the White House is irresponsible and, dare I say it, both unpatriotic and unChristian.

I'm opposed to Rudy getting the nomination, and would rather not see him in the White House. however, I'd prefer that to spending the next 4 or 8 years saying "President Hillary Clinton" and the remainder of my life cleaning up the damage that result would cause.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Tue Jun 12 06:17:07 2007 (/Vgn3)

4 If Hillary Clinton won, at least there would like be a chance to clean up her mess. If Giuliani won not only the nomination but the election, the chance to clean up his mess might never exist, because both major parties will have been won over by social liberalism.

Posted by: Jason at Tue Jun 12 17:01:10 2007 (ASf36)

5 Ultimately, Jason, the election of a Democrat in 2008 would constitute a watershed election like 1980, shifting the political paradigm significantly to the left as Congress becomes even more Democratic and liberal. The election of Rudy (while not desirable in my book) would not constitute such a paradigm shift, especially if it brought with it renewed GOP control of Congress. In such a situation, the conservative movement would still be dominant -- especially if Giuliani stands firm behind the 12 Commitments he offered up yesterday (which, from my point of view, constitutes a solid CONSERVATIVE platform).

However, if you want to punish the GOP for nominating Rudy by screwing the country up for the next generation or two, feel free -- just don't call yourself a conservative or a patriot, OK. After all, conservatives and patriots put country first.

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Tue Jun 12 23:21:51 2007 (sB+jR)

6 Rhymes With Right, whoever you are, you're not going to get very far in convincing me by calling me a traitor.

I have no desire to "punish the GOP."

I get the feeling you do not understand my argument, as you keep arguing around it. On some of the most important issues of the day (family and life), there is no difference between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. In fact, Giuliani's behavior with respect to his family has been significantly worse than Hillary Clinton's. If we concede that we would vote for Giuliani if he is the GOP nominee, we will be saying that issues of family and life do not matter so much to us, that Party is more important than truth and principle (not to mention the lives of unborn children). The GOP will never have an incentive to nomiate a cultural conservative on the national stage again if Giuliani wins, and both parties will have been lost to us. That is the long-term damage that we face.

I

Posted by: Jason at Wed Jun 13 08:36:43 2007 (h4mCH)

7 Actually, Jason, Punishing the GOP by screwing up the country is precisely what you are out to do if you pursu a course of action designed to elect a Democrat to office if Rudy gets the nomination.

And you are wrong about your fundamental premise -- the GOP will, in fact, have plenty of incentive to nominate cultural conservatives on the national stage if Giuliani wins. All you have to do is go out an work hard enough to actually get them nominated. Indeed, it will be the defeat of Rudy at the hands of the sou-called cultural "conservatives" that will take away the incentive to nominate one in the future, because your course of action will demonstrate that cultural "conservatives" cannot be trusted to work on behalf of candidates nominated by the party. After all, why sell your soul to a faction that will only support the candidate of their choice, not the candidate of the party?

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