Why I am Voting for Rudy

But why I am not endorsing him in the SC Primary!

With the Iowa Caucus just hours away and 18 days before the South Carolina GOP presidential primary, I felt it’s past time for me to get off the fence and declare my support for Rudy Giuliani as President of the United States!

It’s been a tough decision, there are a lot of good candidates out there and it’s been my privilege to meet and question many of them personally as they visited the South Carolina Lowcountry. You hear a lot of talk and a lot of promises at these campaign events. But always in the back of my mind the question that needed answering most is “can you get any of this done?”

There are many fine qualities that I look for in a candidate, but the most important can be summed up in one word: LEADERSHIP. And that’s the essential key to a successful presidency that I believe Rudy Giuliani possesses in spades.

I’m not talking about the former New York Mayor’s performance on September 11th (he seems to mention that enough without any help from me). Nor do I wish to review how he was able to hold the line on spending and cut taxes in New York while reducing dependence on welfare and cutting crime. The change in New York is clear to anyone who visits or lives in that City. No need for me to go into detail on all that, it’s a well established record of performance in one of the most difficult jobs in the country after the presidency.

What made him a successful Mayor is what would make him a successful President. Again, that quality is leadership. And it’s his style of leadership that I admire as well. When I heard him speak at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York, the first word that came to mind to describe his style was “Reaganesque.” (video, text, audio here). Rudy delivers a strong message. He does it with passion and conviction, but also with humor as I saw firsthand on that hot July day. (photo left from that event)

It confirmed my earlier impression of him as being one who understands the truly life and death challenges we confront and is not afraid to tackle them directly. His speech to the United Nations General Assembly weeks after September 11th demonstrates that:

Rudy Giuliani
Opening Remarks to the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on Terrorism
Text
delivered 1 October 2001, New York

…On this issue – terrorism – the United Nations must draw a line. The era of moral relativism between those who practice or condone terrorism, and those nations who stand up against it, must end. Moral relativism does not have a place in this discussion and debate.

There is no moral way to sympathize with grossly immoral actions. And by trying to do that, unfortunately, a fertile field has been created in which terrorism has grown.

Rudy wouldn’t be the kind of president who says to the states that continue to sponsor terrorism: “hey, you might have a point there, let’s talk about it.” He won’t worry about whether every nation in the world likes us or not. He realizes that the first duty of a President is to keep this nation safe and we don’t achieve that by validating the viewpoints of those who use terrorism to achieve their goals. Again, it’s leadership that matters most in world affairs and is the essential element for building strong alliances to combat, not appease, evil.

We are blessed that President Bush has successfully foiled a number of terrorist attacks in the United States that would have further scarred our nation’s soil with blood and horror. That blessing may also weaken Rudy’s appeal somewhat as people feel that the danger has receded and that a candidate so strong on this vital issue is less necessary.

But the savage assassination of Benazhir Bhutto in Pakistan was a sad reminder that we are just one suicide bomber away from the same grief that grips Pakistan today.

Value’s Voters

As the perceived threat of terrorism recedes, the question of social values has come to the fore in Rudy’s campaign. Rudy tackled those issues head on in his speech to the Value’s Voters Summit in October, and I won’t hear any criticism of him on those issues from persons who haven’t read excerpts from that speech.

He reminded his audience: “Ronald Reagan had a great way of summarizing it. He used to say my 80 percent friend is not my 100 percent enemy.” Rudy is not the enemy of values voters. He is their friend. Adoptions soared in New York and abortions declined on Rudy’s watch as mayor. Can Mike Huckabee say the same about his time as Governor of Arkansas?

I suppose if you cast your vote on the basis of First Lady or the perfect family, you’ll pull the lever for Romney. But despite Hillary Clinton’s insistence to the contrary, a First Lady, as much as she might be admired, is not the key to a successful presidency.

Rudy Not Perfect, Just RIGHT!

Rudy Giuliani may not be the perfect candidate or the perfect husband. Sadly, no such person exists. However, Rudy is the RIGHT man for the job. He’s RIGHT on the the most crucial life and death issue of our time. He’s RIGHT on so many of our core conservative GOP issues. And he’s the RIGHT man to get the job done.

Why I am Not Endorsing Rudy in SC Primary

You’d think after all that I would be leading the charge for Rudy in the last days before the South Carolina GOP presidential primary on January 19th. I would, there’s just one problem: Rudy’s campaign in SC has been invisible.

Despite how many emails I sent to local GOP officials and even members of Rudy’s campaign, it was extremely difficult to find anyone who could tell me anything about Rudy’s campaign and how people who support him might get involved.

Meanwhile, I’ve watched as Rudy’s number in the SC Real Clear Politics polling averages has dropped from a healthy lead earlier this year to now 5th place. Some of that was inevitable as the campaign heated up and other candidates had their chance to be heard. But a stronger effort in this state might have preserved Rudy’s position and made him more competitive in this “First in the South” primary.

I finally found someone with Rudy’s SC campaign that would answer an email and he insisted that the campaign was making every effort to WIN in South Carolina. He rattled off a a list of steps they were taking. I have seen ONE television commercial he said would be running. But John McCain has ads running hourly on a local talk radio station and I’ve received numerous phone calls and mailings from Mitt Romney.

Rudy’s last visit to my area was on December 1 in a campaign stop at Sun City, a gated community of retirees where non-residents are unwelcome. Thus, he excluded 70% of the area’s GOP voting base. It’s possible he’ll come back again and that his campaign will raise his visibility in South Carolina. But it’s not likely to be enough to win, or even place well.

Rudy’s Risky Strategy Working?

Writing in the Weekly Standard, Dean Barnett describes Rudy’s strategy this way:

[Rudy's] plan to win the nomination–get beat like a rented mule for the first month and then win Florida–was so half-baked and poorly conceived, the people who came up with it should have their licenses to politically consult suspended through the 2012 election. At least. Make a list of those consultants’ names. They are the Ed Rollinses of tomorrow.

Brent Seaborn, Rudy’s Strategy Director and possibly one of those “Ed Rollinses of tomorrow” disagrees:

[O]ur campaign remains convinced that our strategy we have long had in place is right – bold, innovative and designed to deal with the radically different election calendar…we clearly have a winning plan to secure the nomination in an election cycle unlike any other. History will prove us right.”

If Rudy’s strategy is successful it will make McCain’s comeback from the dead seem trivial by comparison and raise the reputation of Rudy’s strategists above that of Karl Rove. Either that or it will be the biggest bust of all time.

And what a shame that GOP voters in South Carolina won’t be asked to play a larger role. It’s Rudy’s clear weakness in the early states that may be holding back potential support in the later states as well.

Quick Look at the Other Guys

• Fred Thompson. When Fred visited Mike’s America in October I asked him how he would get the job done. I believe he has strong leadership skills and is RIGHT on the issues as well. But like Rudy, his falling polling average in South Carolina is echoed in weaknesses in other states as well. He could still surprise us in Iowa and that would breathe new life into his campaign.
• Mitt Romney visited Mike’s America in November and when I had some face time with him, I asked if he was really the conservative he claimed to be. His answer hit every talking point his campaign was trying to make, but I had the nagging feeling he was telling me what he thought I wanted to hear. Still, he’s a solid candidate with great support among the more traditional establishment Republicans.
• I took my mother to meet John McCain’s mother at this very memorable visit also in November. No better way to get the feel for a candidate than in a relaxed living room, not some pushy big event. But McCain asked me to pass this along to my “blogging friends” as he repeatedly referred to you all, that if you disagreed with him on his part in the “Gang of 14″ and other issues, then don’t vote for him. “I’m not your candidate” he said. Sorry John. You’re not my candidate.
• I haven’t met Mike Huckabee. If he’s made a visit here locally I wasn’t informed. And probably just as well. His article describing the Bush White House as having an “arrogant, bunker mentality” was a slap in the face to all of us who have stood by President Bush and his further gaffes on the campaign trail make it clear that what we don’t need is another former Governor from Hope, Arkansas in the White House.
• As for Ron Paul — He’s another Pied Piper leading mostly naive, inexperienced political newcomers away from a more rounded and comprehensive understanding of the complex issues we face, not to mention their participation in a viable political process. He would initiate U.S. surrender worldwide and place us once again in a vulnerable isolationist position. We paid for that mistake in the 20th Century with the loss of hundreds of thousands of American lives. The cost in blood this time would be in the millions of lives.

Taking all that into account leaves me with just one choice:

Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani with wife Judith at the seaside in Bluffton, SC July 6, 2007. Photo by Mike’s America

I pledge to support whomever the eventual nominee is. And unless those who disagree with my choice will make the same pledge, I won’t treat their viewpoint with any consideration.