Rudy’s true soft spot
Posted by Ron Coleman on April 17, 2007
It’s gun control, and he’s going to have a harder time crawling out of that problem than abortion, 
divorce or his (old) comb-over (I am a theoretical* Giuliani supporter, by the way):
With bloggers in the lead, Dems have gotten past the gun-control issue and helped reclaim majorities with help from netroots backed pro-gun candidates . . . . As Rudy Giuliani faces heat from social conservatives for telling them they need to “get beyond issues” like abortion, one wonders how many elections the GOP has to lose before they embrace a similar evolution.
I had not thought of this angle. Like all New York City politicians, Rudy is a gun control absolutist. It’s the religion of municipal government here and, regardless of what his state of nature views might have once been — as on homosexual rights, abortion and other social issues — by the time he was a mayoral candidate, Rudy was a true believer.
Very interesting. Hat tip to Insty.
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*I say theoretical because I keep trying to volunteer but my emails go off into cyber-nowhere-land. His campaign is interested in my money only. But I have no money. I do have other things, I think. But I guess they’re things Rudy doesn’t need…
Ara Rubyan said
Giuliani has other soft spots, also related to municipal government. Remember when he (successfully) sued the Clinton administration for exercising a line item veto that affected funding for NYC?
How’s that going to square with the “new” Republican emphasis on fiscal responsibility?
Ron Coleman said
The Republicans are so lacking in credibility on fiscal responsibility that “new” is not moving, Ara!
Ara Rubyan said
Then they really are doomed, Ron. After all, their street cred on foreign policy sucks too.
Ron Coleman said
Maybe they are.
I mean maybe we are.
Ara Rubyan said
“What you mean ‘we,’ white man?”
Ron Coleman said
I thought it would be unbecoming of me to say “they” when I am and have for a long time been an active Republican.
It would have been a little over the top to say “I,” however, so I said “we” at the risk of seeming to infer that you were included, Ara.
The tent door is always open, mind you!
Barrette said
Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Rudy is NOT an absolutist on gun control. I believe he has said that what’s good for NYC doesn’t necessarily apply to the rest of the country. He said the matter should be left to the states. That is hardly an absolutist position on gun control.
Ron Coleman said
That gives him more space, Barrette, but he is an absolutist on “what’s good for NYC.”
Ara Rubyan said
Correct me if I am wrong, but my understanding is that Rudy is NOT an absolutist on gun control.
In another time and place we called that “flip-flopping.”
Ron Coleman said
I am quite sure the gun enthusiasts will consider his repentance much less readily than I do. This just doesn’t bother me.