3/11/2007

17 Responses to “Rudy: We Must Publicly Fund Abortions”

1. Spang over the line. Pretty hard to back up on “nothing the executive can do about abortion except appoint good judges” when you suddenly realize there might be a lot he could do to *promote* abortion.

   Anwyn (a130c1) — 3/11/2007 @ 10:06 pm

   
   

2. If Giuliani takes the position, “Everyone knows I’ve supported a woman’s right to abortion. But given the overall position of the Republican Party, it will not be a policy I will actively advocate.”, then I think he still can get support overall by many social conservatives.
   At present he has the reputation of being a “straight talker”, and has the benefit of people believing what he says. No social conservative thinks he champions their causes, but at this point many feel that he at least respects their positions and there is room to focus on things that are agreed upon. This may change, but I don’t think anybody should be surprised by this clip. It does raise the specific question whether Giuliani would promote federal funding, military funding, etc. If he does want to go that route it would present a big problem for many who currectly think they can support him.
   That’s my take as one social conservative.

   MD in Philly (3d3f72) — 3/12/2007 @ 3:41 am

   
   

3. I doubt publicly funding abortions is supported by even a majority of Dems. I think I saw a poll a while back that said 2/3 of the public was either flatly opposed to public funding or only supported it in life threatening situations.

   So this is the sort of thing that is going to hurt Giuliani with the vast majority, not just hard right or the so-called theocons.

   Dwilkers (4f4ebf) — 3/12/2007 @ 4:08 am

   
   

4. Maybe if you folks like him so much you should accept what he says about the issue. More Americans thank you think – including Republicans – feel similarly. Pols pretend to get tough about abortion but nothing drastic ever happens. This is because young single wingnut women get knocked up just as often as anybody else. Nobody wants to have to drop out of Liberty University due to an unplanned pregnancy.

   The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/12/2007 @ 4:58 am

   
   

5. What do “hard line conservatives” like the readers of this site think about Rudy “blaming the troops” for the thousands of tons of unsecured and looted RDX high explosives at al-Qaaqa in Iraq?

   The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/12/2007 @ 5:11 am

   
   

6. I have no issue with abortion as regards to rape, incest, or threat to the mother (which puts partial-birth abortions off the list).

   My oposition to abortion doesn’t start until it’s used as birth control.

   I do not agree nor do I support abortion simply because the pair involved didn’t feel like a condom, or the pill, or the morning after pill, or because they couldn’t just NO HAVE SEX to start with.

   And LA… If it’s the fault of lax security that caused high explosives to get stolen, then yes… Then you assign blame.

   It’s the other, ignorant stuff from your side that we have a problem with…

   Darn trolls

   Scott Jacobs (90eabe) — 3/12/2007 @ 5:24 am

   
   

7. It would be interesting to get the exact date on this, though the forcefulness of Giuliani’s lines makes any contextual explanation tough to get across. But if he made it before November of that year, it would explain the rationale in a political context.

   Rudy was running against David Dinkins for NYC mayor in 1989, a year in which New York liberals were incredibly full of themselves about how great it was going to be that the city was about to strike a blow for equality by electing the first black mayor, while at the same time bloviating that the city’s politics needed to get back to its compassionate liberal roots (Dinkins’ “gorgeous mosaic”) after 12 years of the reactionary, conservative (in their minds) Koch administration. So that was the climate Rudy was running in, where even with the crack epidemic, homeless problems and overall rising murder rate, conventional wisdom in the city in 1989 was the politicians had to get more liberal, not less, to solve all those problems, in a time where NYC liberals were trying to blame all their woes on the heartlessness of the Reagan-Bush administration policies (and in a city with 5-to-1 Democratic registration, blaming Republicans in Washington and/or Albany is a tried-and-true strategy).

   Of course, in hindsight things got so bad under Dinkins, even after the Democrats regained the White House that the New York Times still isn’t prepared to (as of yet) claim nothing Giuliani did after he beat Dave in their 1993 rematch made the city better. But it does go towards explaining the forcefulness Rudy’s statement on the YouTube video (which may not be inconsistent with his overall feelings on abortion, but the strength of the remark does come off as a bit of pandering to the city’s outer borough pro-abortion moderates that doesn’t do him any good in the run-up to the 2008 race).

   John (34537e) — 3/12/2007 @ 6:43 am

   
   

8. He is beinging to sound like a libaral

   krazy kagu (3cc72d) — 3/12/2007 @ 7:35 am

   
   

9. The leading Republican candidate for president wanted to make abortion an entitlement.

   How did it come to this.

   Amphipolis (fdbc48) — 3/12/2007 @ 7:40 am

   
   

10. Amph…

    It came to this over about 18 years ago…

    That’s how I explain it… I knew Rudy was pro-abortion back then… The call to publicly fund it was just an election thing… I tend to ignore promises made during election cycles…

    Scott Jacobs (90eabe) — 3/12/2007 @ 7:57 am

    
    

11. Giuliani’s character is of the same exact composition as the surface of the Hudson River. He is as much suited to be President of the United States as New York City is representative of all America.

    nk (48b04e) — 3/12/2007 @ 8:32 am

    
    

12. Did LiberalAvenger seriously have the nads and/or lack of self-respect required to show up again after his last embarrassment? Sheesh.

    I have to love his poll argument, though – it’s always the sign of a weak intellect. I assume, LiberalAvenger, that since polls (and, well, them actually election thingies) show that Americans, even in the most liberal states, are against gay marriage – that you now agree with that position?

    Embarrassing, dude. A position is right or a position is wrong. Polls are meaningless. Argue your position on the policy. Just saying that plenty of people agree with you is beyond weak. It’s empty. It shows no character. Which, I suppose, makes sense.

    As for Giuliani – while the video is an eyebrow-raiser, people can and do change over the course of two decades.

    In 1988, I voted for Dukakis, for God’s sake. And in 1989, I would have agreed with Rudy’s statement in that video.

    But then (unlike, well, LiberalAvenger and his perpetually adolescent friends) I grew up. Matured. Actually used a little reason and critical thought.

    Trust me – no matter how conservative you are, if I were President, you’d like the judges and justices I’d appoint today. No matter what I might have thought in 1989.

    Rudy needs to answer some questions about how his views have evolved. But I’m not basing my support (or lack of it) for Rudy on what he said back when I thought Dukakis was a great guy.

    Dave (c65bfa) — 3/12/2007 @ 10:37 am

    
    

13. hehe, Dave. I said “Pols,” short for Politicians, not “polls.” Pour yourself another drink, buddy.

    The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/12/2007 @ 1:51 pm

    
    

14. Sheesh you think thats embarrassing?

    Try this one . . . Its a side of Rudy you really haven’t seen.

    C Student (c949f7) — 3/12/2007 @ 1:57 pm

    
    

15. “…back when I thought Dukakis was a great guy.”

    Back before greed devoured your soul and left you with a tiny, black heart.

    The Liberal Avenger (b8c7e2) — 3/12/2007 @ 1:57 pm

    
    

16. Dukakis was a great guy. Character means a lot. As for what conservatives care about, all I can remember that we got from Bush ’41 is Clarence Thomas. Liberals got the very first “guns-whose-looks-I-don’t-like” ban and a breach of the “read my lips, no more taxes” promise. The Sultan of Kuwait and his 300 wives got to go back home and keep looting their country and Saddam Hussein got to keep on murdering people for another 12 years. Rudy is another RINO. He does not even rise to the level of country-club Republican. Did he or did he not even keep the Republican National Convention out of New York one time because it would hurt his re-election?

    nk (48b04e) — 3/12/2007 @ 4:33 pm

    
    

17. Amphipolis:

    The leading Republican candidate for president wanted to make abortion an entitlement. How did it come to this.

    Because abortion isn’t the national issue for conservatives anymore. Abortion has either become a regional/state issue or a secondary issue behind same-sex marriage.

    DRJ (53e939) — 3/12/2007 @ 10:25 pm