Rudy Runs the Rapids
But the presidency—and the race for it—is a more testing arena. The country at large, which has gained its impressions from television, will want to satisfy itself on integrity of character as well as raw courage.
Giuliani has flip-flopped on social issues. He is trying to finesse his view favoring abortion rights by asserting he will appoint "strict constructionists" to the Supreme Court in the mode of Justice Antonin Scalia, who seems devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade.
He is suggesting, in other words, that he would appoint people whose judicial philosophy is directly contrary to his own. He has also retreated from his long-held support for banning assault weapons, too easily available to criminals. Giuliani's rationale is that his previous position was made from his perspective as mayor of New York City and should not apply to the country at large. No doubt he will soon seek a way to get around his previous position on the issue of gay rights. If you believe all this, he has a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.
Giuliani's obvious sail trimming makes him seem like just one more politician willing to abandon beliefs to improve his luck today. What a shame! He can survive a few missteps. His "two for one" rhetoric about his wife will not endear him to those who reviled Bill Clinton for just such a sentiment. His misremembering about Bernard Kerik, no doubt genuine, will unsettle some people. To overcome such reverses, inevitable in a long campaign, he will have to reassert his principled courage. Given that, America's Mayor may still have the best shot at winning his party's nomination and maybe then the presidency.
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