California Conservative

That’s the title of Salena Zito’s latest column, a must read if ever I saw one. Salena starts her column by interviewing conservative heavyweight Rick Santorum on why Rudy’s leading at this point. Here’s Santorum’s answer:

“It appears to me that Rudy is going aggressively after the conservative vote,” says Pennsylvania Republican and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. “He has not ceded that ground to anybody.”

Santorum, known nationally for his social conservatism, says Giuliani does a good job of reminding people how he governed as a conservative on crime, welfare and taxes in New York City.

Rush has said that “The difference between Giuliani and McCain is that McCain’s been running for president, Giuliani’s been running for the Republican nomination.” Based on Sen. Santorum’s quote, I’d say that Rush’s analysis is spot on, which is as surprising as finding out that Bill Gates made more money last year.

The truth is that Rudy’s won social conservatives like myself because he’s promised to appoint Supreme Court justices in the Scalia-Thomas-Alito mold and because he’s given a compelling explanation for fighting the jihadists. He’s also won conservatives over by showing that he understands the need to defeat the jihadists. As Ms. Zito explains, there’s lots of reasons to vote for Rudy. Here’s some more:

Speaking recently to members of the Hoover Institution here, Giuliani explained his positions on tax simplification, entitlement reform and school choice. That same night, he traveled to the heart of Virginia — a troubled red state that is leaning blue.

Later he told me how important it is that his campaign be idea-driven.

“When I speak, I try as best as I can to explain my ideas of governing,” he said. “Take the members of the Hoover Institution. I think of them as a group that has done an exceptional job, changing the intellectual climate of the country. They have made it possible for ideas that would generally be considered to be too conservative to actually become mainstream, acceptable ideas about cutting taxes, supply-side economics and fiscal discipline.”

After last November’s election, I was upset by the ideology-free campaign that Republicans waged. Rudy’s saying that “I try as best as I can to explain my ideas of governing” is music to this conservative’s ears. I’ve had lots of conversations with Republicans, including activists, legislators and staffers, where I’ve told them that conservatism, when explained properly and passionately, is still the dominant force in politics today.

I’ve also told these people that I’ll gladly fight the good fight but I need ammunition, the more the better. Based on Rudy’s quote to Ms. Zito, Rudy would give me ammunition galore in fighting for his candidacy. It sounds like he isn’t bashful about touting his conservative credentials, which will win over conservatives, too.

Back in 2000, Mark Shields said that Republicans donating money to Rudy so he could defeat Hillary were doing so even though there wasn’t a dime’s worth of difference between the two. That’s pure hogwash. As we’ve seen, Hillary has adopted so many different positions on the Iraq War because it’s all about staying on the right side of the polling for her. That isn’t leadership. That’s what you do if your goal is to hide your true beliefs long enough to get elected.

That stands in stark contrast to Rudy’s public statements. He’s outlined his beliefs and stuck to them. He hasn’t changed his beliefs just because the polls tell him that the war is unpopular. Instead, he’s explained his ideas in the hope of winning people over to his side.

In his introduction of Hizzoner, George Will said that Rudy was “a man for whom pugnacity was a political philosophy.” That’s exactly what we need in our next Republican president. George Bush is a fine man and I’m grateful that he’s twice been elected president rather than John Kerry and Al Gore but he’s turned the other cheek far too often to inspire movement conservatives. Based on what we’re seeing, turning the other cheek won’t be part of Rudy’s governing style.

That’s why I’ll enthusiastically support Rudy all the way to his inauguration.

Technorati Tags: Rudy Giuliani, Leadership, Conservatism, Alito, Jihadists, Election 2008, Hillary

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 8:09 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Election 2008, Hillary, Iraq, Judiciary, Taxes, Terrorism, W. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.