Rudy at Regent
CONTINETTI, MATTHEW
Rudy at Regent Giuliani gets a standing ovation at Pat Robertson's university. by Matthew Continetti It was June 26, and Rudy Giuliani was surprised. This was his first visit to Regent University...
...Social conservatives may be the single largest group in the Republican coalition, but they do not constitute a majority...
...On the stump, Giuliani says he's the only GOP candidate who could put states like California, New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey in the Republican column...
...It's why keeping America "on offense" against jihad-ism is his first commitment...
...According to this line of thinking, most GOP voters are still unaware of his positions on these issues, and when they find out, they'll go elsewhere...
...If this is a one-issue election, it's about remaining on offense against terrorists...
...So, to win the Republican nomination, Giuliani doesn't need the support of all the Moralists...
...And here's where things get interesting...
...Instead Giuliani delivered his speech on leadership...
...not about one issue...
...For example, after his address at Regent, Giuliani traveled to Rockville, Maryland, for a speech to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington...
...In addition to his "12 Commitments to the American People," a set of policy goals he outlined a few weeks ago, the mayor has "Six Principles of Leadership": knowing what you believe, optimism, courage, relentless preparation, teamwork, and communication...
...And that's why I call it the terrorists' war on us...
...Don't expect that you'll agree with me on everything, because that would be unrealistic," Giuliani said...
...Giuliani pulls just enough to remain in the lead...
...He draws his strongest support from Free Marketers, Heartland Republicans, and Gov-ernment-Knows-Best Republicans...
...I'm not going to give a political speech," Giuliani said...
...Last week's Gallup poll found that Giuliani, at 57 percent, had the highest favorability rating of any candidate in either party...
...That's why he often says that the Democrats are "in denial" about the terrorist threat...
...He says the party is composed of seven groups: Dennis Miller Republicans, Govern-ment-Knows-Best Republicans, Moralists, Bush Hawks, Fortress America Republicans, Heartland Republicans, and Free Marketers...
...Rick Santorum and former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed (both lost...
...This was his first visit to Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the headquarters of televangelist and onetime GOP presidential candidate Pat Robertson's media and education efforts...
...It's about many issues...
...This hasn't happened yet, but we're still a long way away from the Iowa caucuses...
...He stresses the differences between Republicans and Democrats and lambastes Hillary Clinton, suggesting what a Democratic president might do...
...Other questions dealt with immigration and the war on terror...
...The press and large parts of the political establishment assume that Giuliani's pro-choice position and support for stem cell research and gay rights disqualify him for the Republican nomination...
...Fred Thompson...
...Divide and conquer...
...It's Matthew Continetti is associate editor at The Weekly Standard...
...Second, Giuliani emphasizes his viability in a general election...
...For now, Giuliani leads among all groups...
...The Regent campus was much larger than Giuliani had expected...
...Support for the war on terror is something Giuliani shares with social conservatives...
...Giuliani's support is a function of people who are terror stricken by the concept of President Hillary Clinton," says Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission...
...One third of Moralists told Fabrizio they'd look past a candidate's position on abortion if they agreed with him on other issues...
...He wasn't finished...
...He's pledged to reduce the number of abortions and appoint strict constructionists to the bench, and says he won't attempt to change the GOP's pro-life platform...
...If it is about one issue, there is one issue that dominates our present...
...The one issue that dominates is the fact that Islamic terrorists are fighting to kill us...
...Examples besides the war on terror include the fight against pornography, antidrug campaigns, school uniforms, even opposition to racial preferences...
...He just needs enough support from them that, when combined with his leads among other GOP voting blocs, he beats the competition...
...That candidate's name...
...The former New York City mayor was at Regent to participate in the school's executive leadership speaking series...
...The social issues hardly came up...
...Robertson, the host of the 700 Club, introduced Giuliani to the paying audience of more than 600 people...
...The reality is more complicated...
...It was about abortion...
...That's the way I've kind of been approaching this campaign," Giuliani went on...
...Giuliani was the first GOP presidential candidate to release a statement praising the Supreme Court's end-of-term race preferences decision...
...Once a social conservative becomes a viable candidate," predicts Richard Land, "you are going to see social conservatives deserting Giuliani in droves...
...The two embraced...
...The audience laughed and the speech went well, but it was an embarrassment nonetheless...
...Then he took questions from the audience...
...The mayor arrived an hour late— and was missing his speech...
...At the moment, all the other Republican candidates are competing for the Moralist vote, slicing it a dozen different ways...
...There are three prongs to Giuliani's social conservative strategy...
...Then he brought up his presidential campaign...
...But if you agree with me on enough things, and you think I have the ability to lead, then maybe I'm the person you'd support...
...A campaign spokesman estimates that only one out of every 15 questions posed to Hizzoner deals with a social issue...
...They've succeeded in doing it, and they want to do it again...
...First, Giuliani's campaign organization still has some serious flaws...
...He does not want to antagonize the so-called values voters...
...Religious and social conservatives greet Giuliani warmly when he appears before them...
...Land doesn't endorse candidates, but has said he would not vote for Giuliani...
...The greater threat to Giuliani is the emergence of a GOP candidate who is able to unify all groups in the Republican coalition...
...The third prong in Giuliani's strategy is what you might call "divide and conquer...
...Giuliani likes lists...
...Giuliani's May 11 speech at Houston Baptist College, in which he straightforwardly declared himself pro-choice, received a standing ovation—a fact the Washington Post left unmentioned...
...That wasn't the case when Giuliani spoke to the press afterwards, however...
...And so it goes...
...The first question came from a correspondent for the lefty online magazine Salon...
...Last week GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio released a study of the Republican electorate...
...And a sizable chunk of Moralists say they will base their vote next year on a candidate's leadership qualities...
...To fix these flaws, Giuliani has introduced CompStat—his government accountability program— to parts of his own campaign...
...When Giuliani takes questions from conservative audiences, abortion rarely comes up...
...The first is to stress the war on terror, including the war in Iraq...
...The press still hasn't figured out Giuliani, who continues to lead in the Real Clear Politics average of national GOP presidential polls and in polls taken in many primary states...
...Giuliani received a standing ovation...
...In my opinion, it was a smash appearance and people were very high on Rudy and what he had to say," Robertson said in a televised interview after the Regent speech...
...Two things imperil this strategy...
...He did a great job...
...So I'm going to do it all from my head," he said...
...The way to get this support is to find issues on which Giuliani and the Moralists align, says Fabrizio...
...it's not an issue of our making...
...Giuliani's first interlocutor asked how the mayor incorporates his Judeo-Christian beliefs into his governing style...
...He's supported social conservatives in the past, campaigning in 2006 for Sen...
...The crowd laughed...
...For the pro-choice Giuliani, the speech at Regent demonstrated his willingness to campaign anywhere, including before religious conservatives, for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination...
...At Regent, Giuliani discussed each...
...Still, Giuliani wants to appeal to social issues voters...
Vol. 12 • July 2007 • No. 40
