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Will Giuliani be held accountable on social issues?

Posted: Thursday, May 03, 2007 6:22 PM by Hardball

Will Giuliani be held to account tonight on social issues? He's trying get right with the Right, but he's behind McCain in the new polls in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina - the only polls that count. As conservatives learn more about him, he will fade. So the maneuvers on social issues don't satisfy them and will damage his sense of strength with the broader electorate.

In 2004, Giuliani said he favored civil unions for gay couples. Now he's against them, artfully explaining that marriage is between one man and one woman - that's from someone who has been married three times, including to his cousin. And he said he didn't know it.

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I think the most serious social question is our constitutional right to privacy. I want Chris to ask any and all candidates if they will weaken or strengthen the Patriot Act and how will they guarantee there will be no abuse of it.

reve st. clair (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 6:40 PM)

I, agree. Please ask whether they will strengthen or waeken the Patriot act and the Military commisions act.

Oliver, Jackson, Wyoming (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:21 PM)

Why didn't Rudy move the anti-terrorism office out of the WTC before 9/11? It was an obvious target to be hit, in fact, it WAS hit in the first WTC attack years before. You'd think he would've had a shred of common sense to move it to a secure location--like where it is now! Yeah Rudy did such a great job talking to us New Yorker's after 9/11. Maybe he can be national cheerleader. For president, I'd rather someone who makes good decisions. You know, like doesn't lie to us and tell us that the air quality around ground zero is okay, when later it comes out that that was a lie which has cost people their lives.

Ryan L, New York, NY (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:23 PM)

There are many of us, especially in the younger cohort, who don't want to spend any time on issues like who is in love with whom. We need to be concentrating on economic stability and growth, and foreign policy in general. Guiliani has shown that he can make sweeping changes in New York; if he gets that message accross in this debate, those poll numbers will change!

Ted, Knox College, Galesburg, IL (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:29 PM)

Giuliani's first marriage was to his first cousin. I would like Chris to ask him if Giuliani believes this was a mistake, if it shows a lifetime of good judgement that is perhaps lacking in the man he hopes to succeed in the White House and if this was a mistake, how has it affected his failures in other relationships? Thank you, Steve in Dallas

steven cochran (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:30 PM)

Trashing the patriot act and working more deftly with the intelligence resources we already have would be a great way to avoid the contradictory tide toward big-government conservatism. It will also be the best way to reinforce the Republican "strong on defense" theme. How can Giuliani, having learned from his own mistakes, accomplish this as president?

John, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:30 PM)

There is no right to privacy, or right to vote, in the Constitiution.

Pasquale Gelardi (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:31 PM)

I think Guiliani's poll numbers in NY, Fla., Pa. are more important. As well as the "Can you beat Hillary?" number, which Rudy's is winning in a head-to-head right now against the NY Sen.

Corey Clayton, Stamford CT (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:31 PM)

Rudy has not changed his position on civil unions for gays... Straight from Rudy's web site, you can see he still supports civil unions for gays: "Rudy Giuliani believes marriage is between a man and a woman. He does not - and has never - supported gay marriage. But he believes in equal rights under law for all Americans. That's why he supports domestic partnerships that provide stability for committed partners in important legal and personal matters, while preserving the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. "

Fred Nicholson (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:32 PM)

Rudy was a good mayor but he is not president material. You are either for gay marraige or not? you dont just change..its a moral issue and usually moral issues and opinions are in the blood of a person. A president that changes their mind is a bit scary and untrustworthy!

Jessica Buckeye, AZ (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:36 PM)

Can we please have a Candidate that will not try to play off the War, Terrorists, or any of the other Republican gimmicks that have been used for the last few years? How about comparing their opinions to the desires of the American people instead? That might be a nice change!

Robert Leonard, Fort Worth, Tx (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:48 PM)

I hope Chris stays Hardball and doesn't turn Softball. Ask questions of each one that is known to be outside of their comfort zone. How else can we judge how they act under pressure? If at all possible, we need to look for clues as to which ones will sit glaze-eyed in a classroom for 6 minutes while towers burn. Go get em Chris!!

reve st. clair (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 7:58 PM)

Rudy stood on the wreckage of 9/11. He said the right things in our hour of need. Yet today he favors continuing the war in Iraq over going after Osama and the animals that attacked my city and murdered 3,000 Americans. Iraq may be part of the war on terror elsewhere in America, but here in New York, we still remember who attacked us. Rudy can pander to "heartland" Conservatives all he wants. But he's turned his back on New York, and we won't forget.

John (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:01 PM)

Giuliani scares the left, and consequently, a significant portion of the media. So how does the media respond but by playing up issues that would divide him from the far right and thus, supposedly, eliminate him from contention in Nov. 2008. The MSNBC story a week or so ago about his dressing in drag years ago on SNL was an insult not to just Giuliani but to conservatives as a whole. The left and the media better wake up to the very real possibility that a centrist candidate will appear in the '08 election, be it either as a Republican or as an Independent. If I were running the DNC, I would be hoping for a Republican centrist who will have to shoulder right-wing baggage as opposed to a centrist independent.

KW (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:10 PM)

Rudy can win this thing. He gets on the record that he will appoint a pro-life supreme court judge. That he has a plan to strengthen Homeland Security and protect America from global jihad. Provide every American with Health Insurance and leave civil unions to each individual state to decide. He then chooses a "wild card" pro life evangelical vice presidental running mate like Kay Cole James.

Keith Stanton (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:11 PM)

Mr. Giuliani was asked about his record with African-Americans as mayor of New York. I find his reply offensive and racist. Clearly, his first thoughts when asked about African-Americans is crime and welfare. This is indicative of a poor record then and now with African Americans.

Allison, Odenton, MD (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:34 PM)

Gov. Thompson thinks that Reagan was a uniter? Yes, for well-do-white Americans. Reagan turned the clock of civil rights for African Americans backwards. These candidates need to stop celebrating him, for he failed on many fronts.

Charles, Odenton, MD (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 8:55 PM)

So far I am not impressed by any of the candidates. I want to see more independent thinking not just following the party line. So far all I am hearing is the party line. I am also amused by how easily Giuliani has abandoned the gay community. He must have given his female clothes, which he wore more than once, to charity.

Becky, Cheyenne, Wyoming (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 9:00 PM)

Giuliani? Well, there's the transvestite issue, but that shouldn't be the deal-killer. In the end the crowd that nominated Bush won't abandon their winning strategy. They will count on the man who proves himself least personally honorable in the months ahead. Will that be The Mayor? Will it be The Prisoner? Will it be the Newt? That's too close to call. One thing for sure, it won't be the only non-polygamist in the bunch.

John Albuquerque NM (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 9:18 PM)

I am very disappointed in Giuliani who seems to have backpedaled on all his beliefs and convictions. He was my Republican pick before these debates. Find the spine I know you have, Giuliani!

JezEve, Nashville, TN (Sent Thursday, May 03, 2007 9:32 PM)



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