Giuliani Puts Guts Ahead Of Glory

RealClearPolitics

By Ruben Navarrette

Rudy Giuliani has said that if he hadn't gone into politics, his dream job would have been to play for the New York Yankees.

I can see it. The GOP presidential hopeful could be a natural. In fact, last week, in laying out his views on abortion to a conservative audience, he hit a triple.

First, in a political season where most candidates are bending themselves into pretzels pandering to their party's base in pursuit of campaign contributions, Giuliani did the unthinkable: He actually told an audience not what one assumes it wanted to hear, but rather what it needed to hear.

Second, in explaining his position on abortion, Giuliani spelled out a nuanced view that aimed for the center and, in doing so, stood out from much of the politics of today, fueled by the extremes and cast in terms of all or nothing.

And third, Giuliani argued that it was in the Republican Party's best interest to tolerate dissenting views and be more inclusive lest it drive away potential supporters when there are more important matters at hand, starting with fighting terrorism.

The candidate obviously intended to go on the offensive. It worked, sort of. Among the first to take offense were evangelical groups and social conservatives, who rushed to pronounce Giuliani's presidential bid over. Liberals in the media jumped in and did much the same thing, gleefully insisting that Giuliani had cooked his goose.

But someone forgot to tell those in the audience at Houston Baptist University, who gave Giuliani a standing ovation for his remarks. Some of them told reporters afterward that they appreciated his candor in addressing a thorny subject.

The performance was even more remarkable when you consider that many people expect Giuliani to strike out whenever he talks about abortion. The consensus is that he did just that in a recent debate with other GOP hopefuls, where he seemed to want to have it both ways by insisting that it would be "OK" if Roe v. Wade were overturned and "OK" if it were not.

I didn't hear a contradiction. Giuliani was obviously trying to say that it isn't the job of the president to set policy on abortion, and that this task is best left to state legislatures and judges. Likewise, I don't have a problem with Giuliani describing himself as pro-choice but pledging to appoint "strict constructionist" judges to the federal bench -- unless we have gotten so used to the idea that presidents will only appoint judges who agree with them on every issue.

Nonetheless, Giuliani's triple could not have come at a better time. One imagines that his campaign had the jitters once it became common knowledge that Giuliani and former wife Donna Hanover had contributed to the pro-choice organization Planned Parenthood. A lesser figure might have handled the revelation much differently. He might have hedged and dodged and spun and insisted that he really didn't contribute that much to the group, or that he wasn't fully aware of everything that the organization stood for.

Not Giuliani, who turned lemons into lemonade by taking the opportunity to spell out what he believed and why. He told the Houston audience that he believes abortion is morally wrong and would counsel anyone who is considering the procedure not to follow through with it. But, he said, he refuses to impose his views on those who believe otherwise and so he leaves the decisions to those who must bear the consequences -- the women who have to make the choice.

That's perfect. And laying it out that way took guts.

That is something that voters already think Giuliani has plenty of, in light of his performance on Sept. 11, 2001. A recent Newsweek poll asked Americans which presidential candidate in either party had the most courage. Forty-eight percent picked Giuliani, compared to 43 percent for Sen. Hillary Clinton and 42 percent for Sen. John McCain.

It's all so Trumanesque. Newsweek also has a cover story this week insisting that what the country needs is another dose of the man from Independence. Tough. Straight-talking. Less worried about being popular than being right.

Now here's Giuliani giving it to members of his own party with both fists and telling them they had better listen for their own survival, or else sit back and watch as the outcome of the 2006 midterm election gets replayed in 2008 and perhaps beyond.

Give 'em hell, Rudy.