Is Rudy Right for America?

I've always been a social conservative, even when I was a Democrat in my young and foolish youth, but I've never been a single issue voter. To me the overriding priority of the federal government is to provide for our national security. And the number one domestic issue for me is keeping taxes low to grow the economy and provide jobs for families to provide for themselves.

There are a number of Republican candidates who claim the social conservative mantle in this race. But Sen. Brownback I consider soft on national security. Gov. Huckabee will probably go nowhere as the governor of a small state. Gov. Romney has evolved toward social conservative positions and has firmly put himself in that camp for this election. And Sen. John McCain has a consistent social conservative record, but never seems comfortable talking about it or espousing it. Both Romney and McCain support the surge. Sen. McCain has been a real statesman in making the case to win the war. (And if there is competition on who is the best supply-sider that is all to the good.)

Since the appointments of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito the urgency emanating from social conservatives has eased. At least it has for me. In recent interviews Giuliani indicated he was open to appointing strict constructionists. And despite his pro-choice record he is opposed to partial birth abortion, except to save the life of the mother, and will continue to limit Medicaid funding of abortion. Giuliani is in favor of school choice. He wasn't when he started out as mayor, but he came to see it was the best way to reform the schools. He says people may not agree with him on everything, but you've got to live with that, if your views change you've got to be honest with people, you've got to be yourself---you have strong views, but you have to learn from experience. He is open to states having different solutions on different issues. Hannity interview here and here.

And with the Democrat efforts to appeal this next election cycle to social conservative social engineers---on the environment, for the common good, (See Tom Bevan) Republicans need to appeal to an electorate that values altruism as best expressed in the private sector. (See the Lemonade Stand Approach) The ownership society and accompanying low taxes give more scope for charitable giving for those compassionate conservatives. At least Republicans have put corruption as an issue behind them---their corrupt congressmen lost in the last election, unlike Democrats who have lingering problems---Harry Reid, William Jefferson. And there's been some bipartisan porkbusting, at least on transparency of earmarks.

The Chicago Tribune has tried to undermine Guiliani's appeal to independent, inner suburban voters in a detailed but ultimately unpersuasive piece. Apparently he is guilty of engaging in capitalism. (I didn't even save it, after reading it. And yes, I did read all FOUR pages.) Richard Baehr, The American Thinker, RCP, calls it a pre-emptive strike by the Tribune to clear the field for Hillary and Barack, the Illinois favorites and go after the GOP favorite:

He offers the chance for the GOP to win back some of the libertarians, independents, and moderate voters who have defected in recent elections, but were once part of Ronald Reagan's large majority, since they were with him on his economic policies and his Cold War policies, if not on all his social stances.

I think that analysis is about right. Republicans lost the swing voters on the War in Iraq, but Rudy might well win them back for the War on Terror. He has that win one for the Gipper appeal, after fighting back for New York on 9/11. Here's a ringing endorsement from those who have seen him up close at City Journal:

But in 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), 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. “Over the last century, millions of people from all over the world have come to New York City,” Giuliani once observed. “They didn’t come here to be taken care of and to be dependent on city government. They came here for the freedom to take care of themselves.” It was that spirit of opportunity and can-do-ism that Giuliani tried to re-instill in New York and that he himself exemplified not only in the hours and weeks after 9/11 but in his heroic and successful effort to bring a dying city back to life.

And this:

To those of us who observed 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. In particular, offended by the notion that people should be treated differently and demand privileges based on the color of their skin, Giuliani was fearless in confronting racial extortionists like Sharpton. Early in his tenure, he startled the city when he refused to meet with Sharpton and other black activists after a confrontation between police and black Muslims at a Harlem mosque. And though activists claimed that Giuliani inflamed racial tensions with such actions, there were no incidents during his tenure comparable with the disgraceful Crown Heights riot under Dinkins, in which the police let blacks terrorize Orthodox Jews for several days in a Brooklyn neighborhood.

And I remember when he turned down a Saudi prince's blood money after 9/11. His first priority in New York was to restore public safety, and I imagine he'll set national security and fighting the war on terror as a high priority as well. Here's R. Emmett Tyrrell, the American Spectator, NY Sun, "Not Since T.R.":

Then came September 11 and he displayed to the nation the traits he had so successfully displayed in reviving his city. He was decisive, efficient, prudent, and — something only those at his side in Gracie Mansion already knew — brave. After the first plane struck the World Trade Center, he instantly rushed to the scene. Arriving just after the second plane hit he re-established governance nearby as the towers came down. He was in genuine peril but coolly oversaw the rescue work and communication with the outside world.

He had already demonstrated his awareness of the danger and nihilism of terrorists. In 1995 he expelled Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat from commemorations of the United Nations' 50th anniversary sponsored by the city, saying, "When we're having a party and a celebration, I would rather not have someone who has been implicated in the murders of Americans there." Mr. Giuliani's knowledge of international terrorism has steadily grown to the point that he is now acknowledged as one of the world's foremost authorities on terror. That alone in these times should commend him to the majority of the American electorate.

Rudy Giuliani has an abundance of common sense and lots of guts. He's an instinctive conservative. And that's good enough for me to consider giving him my vote.

Related posts: Choosing Up 2008, Sunny Conservatives, Giuliani vs. McCain, Does Hillary Measure Up?

UPDATE: Peggy Noonan on Rudy and Hillary (the limousine liberal). Tom Bevan looks at historic poll numbers on Rudy.