May 13, 2007
Rudy breaks a sweat
Chris Wallace is interviewing Rudy Giuliani on Fox News Sunday, and -- to put it charitably -- the former mayor isn't doing well.
Wallace is pressing him on a variety of issues -- including abortion and Iraq -- and Giuliani is struggling to provide answers that square the circle and falling short.
Sweat is beading on his upper lip, glistening on his forehead, and I don't think it's because it's unduly warm in Tyler, Texas, where the interview is being conducted; Chris Wallace is in the same room, and he looks cool as a cucumber.
Okay, back from the commercial break and someone has clearly been working on the mayor, mopping his brow.
Wallace asks Giuliani about his fiscal record as mayor, when New York's spending ballooned, as well as the fact that Giuliani sued the Clinton Administration over the President's use of the line-item veto -- which was ultimately held to be unconstitutional.
Rudy maintains his bona fides as a fiscal conservative, as well as a strict-constructionist on the Constitution.
Guns: Wallace notes that Giuliani backed the Clinton-era gun control strategies, including holding gun manufacturers liable for crimes committed with their products -- a profoundly unconservative theory of personal liability.
Giuliani offers a weak defense, cliaming to be a strong advocate for gunowners' rights, with nothing to back up the assertion.
Illegal immigration: Wallace says Giuliani's positions on the issue are 180-degrees out as a presidential candidate from what they were as mayor.
Giuliani says he had to take a different tack because of the practical problems of running a city with a large number of illegals, making sure that their children could go to school instead of sitting at home; seek medical treatment instead of spreading diseases; and report crime to the cops without fear of deportation.
Thanks to the wonders of Hi-Def, I can see that Giuliani's finger nails are long; I'm just saying.
All in all, I don't think it was a great performance, and won't do much to quiet his critics.
UPDATE
The panel chimes in.
Brit Hume: I think he got tangled up in this issue ... but can get past it. Pro-choice with restrictions is his postion. The question facing the voter is, "Which is more important: 9-11 or abortion?"
Bill Kristol: I think he's good at making his case. Will he be sufficiently superior to McCain and Thompson on terrorism and economics to get the nomination desite his stand on abortion?
Juan Williams: There's blood in the water. The other candidates are going to be all over him at the next debate. Guns, gays -- Rudy Giuliani is out of the Republican mainstream on all these issues.
Holy smokes! I agree about something -- anything! -- with Juan Williams. I guess it's true; a stopped clock is right twice a day.
Posted by Mike Lief at May 13, 2007 08:13 AM
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