Watching Rudy Giuliani stumble through his answers on abortion
during the presidential debate earlier this month, I was reminded
of Rocky Balboa getting knocked out by Clubber
Lang in the first act of Rocky III.
A victim of his own popularity, Rocky had become comfortable and
complacent. He was unsure of himself in the ring and had lost the
edge that had enabled him in the past to overcome long odds to best
his opponents. Had Giuliani, I wondered, suffered from the same
problem as the Italian Stallion? Had glowing press coverage,
adoring crowds, and high poll numbers taken the fight out of Rudy?
Had he lost his edge?
Going into the campaign, all political observers agreed that
Giuliani’s pro-choice position would be the most challenging for
him to overcome, so it wasn’t surprising to see the abortion issue
cause him so many problems. But it was surprising that the
prosecutor who had stared down the mob, the crime-fighting mayor
who was known for combative press conferences and for his steely
resolve on Sept. 11, seemed quite tentative — even nervous — in
interviews and on the campaign trail when the issue of abortion
came up. It was stunning that the man who touted relentless
preparation as one of his primary principles of leadership had
looked so unprepared to answer basic questions. As mayor, no matter
whether people agreed or disagreed with him on issues, everybody
always knew where he stood. Yet his answers on abortion during the
presidential campaign have been a muddled, confusing, mess — until
now.
In 1960, John F. Kennedy addressed a group of Baptist leaders in
Houston to confront the major obstacle facing his candidacy, his
Catholicism. If Giuliani goes on to win the Republican nomination,
his speech on Friday to the Houston Baptist
University, in which he unapologetically laid out his differences
with conservatives, could become just as historic. At the very
minimum, it may be remembered as the day he regained his edge.
Although Giuliani did not change the underlying reasoning for
his positions, his Houston speech represented a significant
departure in tone. For much of the campaign, Giuliani has steered
clear of addressing his views on guns, immigration, gay rights, and
abortion when speaking before conservative audiences, offering only
a nod to his differences with such statements as “we don’t all
agree on everything.” He has tended to go into specifics only when
asked directly by an interviewer, and as a result he has been put
on the defensive. On Friday, to borrow one of his favorite
refrains, Giuliani went on offense — tackling each of these issues
head on, one by one.
Giuliani framed his past support for gun rights within his
efforts to cut crime in New York City. He described how his
immigration policies as mayor were influenced by practical concerns
given that he was governing a city with 400,000 illegal immigrants
that the INS couldn’t deport. He said while he opposes gay marriage
or civil union laws that are the equivalent of marriage, he does
support domestic partnership rights. And on abortion, he reiterated
that he thinks abortion is “morally wrong” but that he ultimately
believes people of good conscience can disagree, so a woman should
have a right to choose. He did, however, add that he would be open
to policies that limit abortion. Many of these statements are
familiar to those who have followed the campaign closely, but
Giuliani’s presentation of them this time was much more direct,
forceful, and confident than it has been so far in this
campaign.
“I should honestly tell you what I believe,” he said. “I should
honestly tell you the things that I can evolve on and the things
that I can’t, and then you should decide.”
Giuliani also went out of his way to say that he respected the
views of those who disagree with him, and was at peace with the
fact that some people’s disagreements will be too great for them to
consider voting for him.
Getting this speech off his chest seems to have made a
difference already. In an interview with Chris Wallace for Fox News
Sunday that was conducted after he delivered the remarks,
Giuliani seemed much more self-assured and prepared than he has
been when grilled in past interviews over the course of the
campaign.
In early April, CNN’s Dana Bash showed Giuliani a YouTube clip of a 1989 speech
he gave in support of public funding for abortion, and his muddled
response and deer-in-the-headlights look when answering the
question triggered a firestorm of criticism, not only for the
substance of his answer, but for the perception it created that he
was simply “winging it.”
In the interview that aired Sunday, Wallace showed Giuliani a
1997 NARAL questionnaire that has surfaced on the Internet, on
which Giuliani indicated opposition to policies limiting abortion,
and asked: “Since then, you have moved in the direction of
restricting abortions in all of these areas. Why?” Without
hesitation, Giuliani responded, “Correct. Let’s take each one of
them,” and then elaborated. Wallace also asked him about his
lawsuit as mayor that eventually led the Supreme Court to strike
down the line-item veto. “The line-item veto is unconstitutional,
and I’m a strict constructionist,” Giuliani fired back. “The
line-item veto — if we want, it has to be done by constitutional
amendment.” That might draw criticism from conservatives, but it
cannot be said that he was caught off-guard or didn’t stake out a
clear position. He also comfortably fielded a question on the
location of the emergency command center in the World Trade Center
complex.
To some, Giuliani has committed political suicide by deciding to
come out as an unabashedly pro-choice candidate. While being up
front runs the risk of making it more difficult to win over social
conservatives, his new approach has the advantage of limiting the
damage to a few issues. If he were to have reversed himself for the
sake of political expediency, the level of confusion in his
statements would have spilled over to voters’ general perceptions
of him and undermined his central appeal: that he is a tough,
fearless, no-nonsense leader who sticks with his convictions
through popular and unpopular times.
Rocky, of course, ended up taking Clubber Lang in the rematch
after rediscovering his fighting spirit. On Tuesday, Giuliani will
get a second chance to make his case to Republican voters in a
presidential debate in South Carolina. It should be fun to watch,
because it looks like he has regained the eye of the Rudy.
