Constitution Club

‘It’s the security stupid!’

This seems to be the mantra of the Conclub conservatives on choosing the next Republican presidential candidate.  DFV discusses McCain’s qualifications for the presidency by exclaiming, “he has offered serious, specific plans for victory, and has often done so at great political cost to himself.”  PG piles on by saying that McCain, “is best equipped to lead us during what I believe will be the most dangerous time internationally our country has ever experienced.”  Both statements are certainly compelling as to why McCain would be a good choice for the GOP.  And unlike the Scribe, PG does a good job of acknowledging McCain’s troubled path on the domestic front. 

In Dave’s support for Fred Thompson, he outlines a list of 10, sometimes humorous, but uncompelling reasons to support Fred.  Number eight on his list is actually a reason to not vote for Giuliani.  Of Giuliani, he says, “He’d make a great secretary of state but if he is the GOP candidate the fact is that the social conservatives will stay home or certain factions will play spoiler. Being ‘right’ on one issue (the threat of Islamic fundamentalism) will not be enough to win the election or lead the country in the right direction.”

The problem with that statement is that it is primary talk.  As the various candidates jockey for position in the field, social conservatives often make bold claims about staying home on election day.  Steve Forbes was the victim of such talk in 1996.  Moreover, when faced with the choice of Giuliani or Clinton, conservative voters will rush to polling stations to vote for Rudy.  Here’s why:

Social Concerns

Rudy Giuliani is certainly no social conservative.  As Dave said, “Guiliani is pro-gay, pro-gun control, and pro-abortion.”  But my reply to that is, ’so what?’  When Giuliani says that he will appoint strict constructionist judges along the lines of Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito, I take him at his word.  As a ‘tough on crime’ prosecutor and Reagan appointee, Giuliani probably has little use for free speech liberals like Kennedy or Souter.  He is also buoyed by the support of high profile conservative lawyer and former Solicitor General, Ted Olsen.  Olsen will also make a fine A.G. for President Giuliani.  All of this will be neatly packaged and sold to social conservatives throughout the summer and many of Dave’s fears will be put to rest.

Economic Issues

Who can argue that Giuliani has the best credentials to continue to guide the economic future of the United States?  His transformation of New York City after decades of insufficient Democratic rule bear testimony to this fact.  Giuliani orchestrated this transformation with massive tax cuts and solid leadership.  Making New York the safest big city in America undoubtedly helped spur on economic growth.  If fiscal restraint is important to the average conservative, then Giuliani should be a compelling candidate for them.  Trusting the economic future to the likes of Mike Huckabee or John McCain is a crap-shoot at best.  I prefer to not roll the dice.

American Security/Foreign Policy

On securing the American homeland and enacting a strong foreign policy, the choice comes down to two candidates; Giuliani and McCain.  The sole argument that both DFV and PGW had for going with McCain is that he stuck by his guns on the Iraq War.  Far from coming up with an exhaustive list of foreign policy achievements, their sole argument is that he advocated more troops.  What they fail to acknowledge is that on other security issues, McCain’s positions are murky.  How can we be sure of the McCain’s ability to protect the homeland when he is diametrically opposed to waterboarding?  And how is the U.S. made more secure when he teams up with Ted Kennedy on immigration reform?  We don’t get much from the Scribe except that “McCain is so clearly superior to every other candidate on foreign policy, the War on Terror, governmental reform, and federal spending.”  The totality of that statement is so outlandish it makes one wonder if DFV is even paying attention.  On the other hand, we know from Giuliani’s no-nonsense style that he is more likely to enforce strong border security, more likely to continue the Bush intelligence gathering techniques, and more likely to act as an effective prosecutor of the War on Terror, free from deal cutting and compromise. 

In politics, it is prudent to judge a candidate by their past actions.  For this reason, I believe Rudy Giuliani is the best possible candidate to take on Hillary Clinton next year.