Obama Opens Door for a Rudy Run?
Matt Lewis
Columnist
Posted:
07/25/09
A few months ago, most people assumed former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's political future was unpromising, to put it nicely. Sure, he might run for governor of New York if Governor Patterson ran for re-election, but his national ship had sailed. After all, if the economy was the big issue, who better to nominate in 2012 than former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney -- who, at Bain Capital, excelled at turning around struggling businesses?
Despite getting off to a fast start in the 2008 Republican Primary campaign, Giuliani had faded fast, a victim of poor political strategy and social views outside the comfort zone of the party's base. So why would Republicans even consider nominating a guy who failed so miserably in the '08 campaign?
How quickly things change. If the Republican Primary were held today -- in the wake of the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. incident -- I would not be surprised to see Rudy win.
Why? President Obama tapped on nerves across the political spectrum when he said the police in Cambridge, Mass. had behaved "stupidly" in arresting his friend Gates, an African-American scholar at Harvard who was briefly detained for disorderly conduct after police answered a call that two black men had been seen trying to force their way into a house -- his house, as it turned out.
Regardless of who was in the right or wrong, it was clearly a political mistake for Obama to weigh in, and judging by his shift in tone on Friday, Obama has admitted as much.
Obama and Democrats risk reinforcing the narrative that they are weak on law and order issues, and slow to defend those who put themselves in harm's way (see Pelosi vs. CIA). And perhaps Republicans will make a strategic decision to nominate Giuliani.
After all, who is better suited culturally to put some New England states back in play than the Mayor of America? And who better to go head-to-head with President Obama on issues of law-and-order than Rudy Giuliani?
No one on the national scene today is better equipped to rhetorically challenge President Obama on these issues than the former Mayor of New York who rose to the occasion on 9-11.
But, you say, Giuliani has already proven he cannot -- with his background -- win a Republican primary. Rudy Giuliani could not win a Republican primary in 2008, but after four years in the wilderness, Republicans may be more accepting of Rudy's past and positions than they were four years ago. And ager at President Obama might make them more willing to overlook Rudy's flaws.
Despite getting off to a fast start in the 2008 Republican Primary campaign, Giuliani had faded fast, a victim of poor political strategy and social views outside the comfort zone of the party's base. So why would Republicans even consider nominating a guy who failed so miserably in the '08 campaign?
How quickly things change. If the Republican Primary were held today -- in the wake of the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. incident -- I would not be surprised to see Rudy win.
Why? President Obama tapped on nerves across the political spectrum when he said the police in Cambridge, Mass. had behaved "stupidly" in arresting his friend Gates, an African-American scholar at Harvard who was briefly detained for disorderly conduct after police answered a call that two black men had been seen trying to force their way into a house -- his house, as it turned out.
Regardless of who was in the right or wrong, it was clearly a political mistake for Obama to weigh in, and judging by his shift in tone on Friday, Obama has admitted as much.
Obama and Democrats risk reinforcing the narrative that they are weak on law and order issues, and slow to defend those who put themselves in harm's way (see Pelosi vs. CIA). And perhaps Republicans will make a strategic decision to nominate Giuliani.
After all, who is better suited culturally to put some New England states back in play than the Mayor of America? And who better to go head-to-head with President Obama on issues of law-and-order than Rudy Giuliani?
No one on the national scene today is better equipped to rhetorically challenge President Obama on these issues than the former Mayor of New York who rose to the occasion on 9-11.
But, you say, Giuliani has already proven he cannot -- with his background -- win a Republican primary. Rudy Giuliani could not win a Republican primary in 2008, but after four years in the wilderness, Republicans may be more accepting of Rudy's past and positions than they were four years ago. And ager at President Obama might make them more willing to overlook Rudy's flaws.