Rudy Giuliani to Wage War on Gay Marriage

Anybody remember Rudy Giuliani? He was the presumptive favorite to win the 2008 GOP Presidential nomination, before Ron Paul took him out? Well, Rudy's back.

The former Mayor of America tells the New York Post's Fredric U. Dicker that he is going to take his "traditional view of marriage," which I guess is between a man and a woman and whomever the dude is still married to, into battle against gay marriage: (h/t John Dickerson)

"This will create a grass-roots movement. This is the kind of issue that, in many ways, is somewhat beyond politics," said Giuliani, a two-term mayor who unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination last year.

"I think gay marriage will obviously be an issue for any Republican next year because Republicans are either in favor of the position I'm in favor of, civil unions, or in many cases Republicans don't even favor civil unions," he continued.

Giuliani, who is slated to address a Republican fund-raising gala in Albany tonight in what is widely described as further proof of his interest in running for governor, said he's committed to the traditional definition of marriage.

"Marriage, I believe, both traditionally and legally, has always been between a man and a woman and should remain between a man and woman," said Giuliani, who has been married three times.

New York Governor David Paterson has plenty of problems in seeking re-election, evidenced by his awful polling numbers prior to his call for legalizing gay marriage. It's really classy of Rudyto smell blood in the water, and run against Paterson on denying people a right that he himself thinks is so nice, he did it thrice. Hopefully, Paterson gets the push he needs from Mike Bloomberg, turning this into a win.

If there's a silver lining to this story, aside from the fact that the reporter seems to have been named by the tandem of Bart Simpson and Moe the Bartender, it's that Rudy exposes the weakness in some Democrats' positions on the issue of gay marriage. He tries to hide behind Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who both favor civil unions.

The issue of gay marriage is picking up steam as a civil rights issue, and has even gained the support of John McCain's former chief strategist. Politicians are going to have to choose, and soon, whether they really want to be on the wrong side of history on this one.

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