On Wednesday, Rudy Giuliani told CNN that he still supports public funding for abortion. On Thursday, Giuliani took his message on the road to South Carolina.
Rudolph W. Giuliani, campaigning in South Carolina, firmly stated that as president he would not seek to make abortion illegal.
Aware of the damage his position might do to him among some conservative voters, Mr. Giuliani said that if someone was inclined to vote against him solely because of his stance on abortion, then so be it.
“I think abortion is wrong,” he said. “But ultimately, I think it is a woman’s right, a woman’s choice. And government should not interfere with it by imposing criminal penalties on people.”
Oddly enough, he even stepped on his own anti-abortion message from a month ago, when Giuliani started telling audiences that his own pro-choice beliefs don’t matter, because he’d overturn Roe through right-wing judicial nominees. Yesterday, however, Giuliani even backpedaled away from this line, telling South Carolinians, “The present state of the law on these issues is not something that I would seek to change.”
Clemson University political scientist Dave Woodard said, “He’s toast. I think it’s going to be really hard for him to overcome this in South Carolina.”
I find it impossible to come to any other conclusion. If Giuliani supports public funding of abortion, he necessarily supports repeal of the Hyde Amendment, a landmark policy for conservatives for the last 30 years, which prohibits use of Medicare funds going to abortion except in the case of rape, incest, or the life of the woman. I don’t care how much fawning publicity Giuliani got in the immediate aftermath of 9/11; the Republican Party’s NARAL wing simply doesn’t exist.
Atrios noted that Giuliani is “either more honest than I expected or no one has sat him down and taught him the proper code words on this issue…. If he knew the right language he could get away with expressing almost the same thing without pissing off every conservative voter.”
I agree, and suspect this is where Giuliani’s arrogance gets in the way.
One almost gets the sense that the former NYC mayor thinks he can excel despite his progressive pro-choice beliefs because, he’s Rudy Giuliani.
Especially after the CNN interview of Wednesday, Giuliani’s staff must have had a chat with the candidate about the issue and it’s likely impact on Republican primary voters (who have backed a pro-choice GOP presidential nominee exactly zero times since Roe v. Wade was decided). Did Giuliani not listen? Or does he just not care because, well, he’s Rudy Giuliani.
As for the broader implications, I think Giuliani’s chutzpah-driven pro-choice position makes John McCain look a little worse. As Edward Copeland said in comments yesterday, “Maybe McCain should give [Giuliani] the keys to the Straight Talk Express.”
Indeed, McCain can’t answer questions about any social policy without a) flip-flopping; or b) stuttering while pondering what James Dobson might want him to say. In contrast, Giuliani is taking a firm-but-unpopular stand. It’s going to cost Giuliani the nomination, but it most definitely qualifies as “straight talk.”
I’d add just one more thought: I think this helps former Sen. Fred Thompson (R) of Tennessee. The top three GOP candidates look less and less impressive as time goes on. Giuliani had a very strong March, but this week reminds the political world of why his appeal is limited. The party’s base still doesn’t trust McCain, can’t quite stomach Romney, and doesn’t believe that Huckabee or Brownback can win the general election.
By announcing his support for publicly-funded abortion, Giuliani is opening the door to a credible outsider to get into the race. That almost certainly means Thompson, doesn’t it?