On Leadership

Good to know. Rudy Giuliani says he doesn't need an Iraq policy because "that’s in the hands of other people." This as part of his response to the question of why he didn't include anything about Iraq in his "twelve commitments." Greg Sargent correctly wonders if the media really intends "to let Rudy skate by with such answers?"

The answer is: probably! Giuliani has, for example, tended to get a free pass on his effort to position himself as an immigration restrictionist. He's achieved that positioning by opposing the immigration compromise and saying his opposition is grounded in the fact that its ID measures are insufficiently stringent. Be that as it may, when he was mayor of New York City he went as far as legally possible to create a citywide amnesty zone and even went to court to push the legal boundaries further. The press, however, doesn't seem to care about this.

And, of course, for years now they've been pushing the idea that Giuliani has credibility on national security issues even though he has no experience with foreign policy or military issues. So from his perspective, why shouldn't he get away with not having answers to Iraq questions.

Comments

Sadly, as always, IOKIYAR. So simple, yet so true.

Posted by Tim P. | June 13, 2007 4:42 PM

I hate the media. If I ever meet them, I am going to punch them in the face.

Posted by blah | June 13, 2007 4:45 PM

"when he was mayor of New York City he went as far as legally possible to create a citywide amnesty zone"

None of the leading GOP candidates are tough enough on immigration IMO, but to be fair to Rudy, the NYC "amnesty zone" was initiated by Ed Koch (who is no longer pro open-borders). Also, it's understandable that a mayor would have a different approach to illegals: immigration policy is federal, and since federal authorities haven't shown much zeal for enforcing federal laws on immigration, it's hard to expect mayors to be more Catholic than the Pope here.

Posted by Fred | June 13, 2007 5:28 PM

Republicans can get away with anything. That's what happens when the press is completely on their side. Especially when everyone pretends that that isn't the case.

Posted by soullite | June 13, 2007 5:42 PM

Both Hillary! and Rudy are relying on the bete noir status with their enemies to protect them from scrutiny by their friends.

Posted by otto | June 13, 2007 5:45 PM

Well, we know the media is going to cover the horse race. And since Republican primary voters clearly don't give a shit about Rudy's actual positions on these issues, it's not surprising the press lets him slide. If it became apparent that Rudy's ambiguity on immigration or total lack of foreign policy experience actually mattered to Republican voters, I suspect it would become a story, the same way his pro-abortion views have become a story. But Republicans just don't care about these issues.

What Republican primary voters care about is Rudy acting "tough." So the press spends most of its time covering how effective Rudy's tough guy act is with Republican voters. Believe me, I'm not endorsing the system. But that's how it seems to work.

Posted by owenz | June 13, 2007 6:00 PM

"The answer is: probably! Giuliani has, for example, tended to get a free pass on his effort to position himself as an immigration restrictionist."

But of course.

You see: although Giuliani is an adulterous prick who publically humiliated his ex-wife so badly his kids won't speak to him it will be the Clinton marriage under scrutiny (she must be a dyke you understand or at least a dope to stay married to him). Although Giuliani is an authoritarian creep (note his reason here for not supporting the immigration bill; the ID provision is not authoritarian enough) Mrs. Clinton will be pegged as the bitch who wants to take away all your rights. Although Giuliani is a corrupt thug (HUD-gate, Harding-gate, radio-gate, Kerik-gate and a whole lot else) it will be Hillary Clinton's record from the 1990s under scrutiny (there's already polling to support this proposition). And although Giuliani is a persistent flip flopper it will be Mrs. Clinton portrayed as a phony.

Posted by Linus | June 13, 2007 6:03 PM

Giuliani has positioned himself as the paternalistic strong father figure - hard assed but fair. And no one seems to be calling his bluff i.e. the part about being fair. Seems like the 9/11 halo will never wear off.

If he does get elected, will he actually follow through with all the scary talk? Shudder... Maybe its time the dems pester Gore to throw his hat in after all.

Posted by 2cynicalbyhalf | June 13, 2007 6:10 PM

Re: opposition is grounded in the fact that its ID measures are insufficiently stringent.

What's he want? A national ID number with barcode tattooed on our shoulders?

Posted by Jonf | June 13, 2007 6:27 PM

Guiliani would probably be the most fun President for reporters to cover, so don't expect them to do anything that might derail his candidancy such as doing their job.

Posted by Ron | June 13, 2007 6:33 PM

Quick question, particularly for conservatives: if Republican voters don't care about the specific's of Giuliani's record, especially with things like anti-terror policy and emergency response, is it inappropriate of the media to bring those issues up and point to a credibility problem regarding Giuliani's national security bona fides?

Posted by Tyro | June 13, 2007 6:38 PM

Greg Sargent correctly wonders if the media really intends "to let Rudy skate by with such answers?"

If you consider the candidacies of Romney (blue state), Guilani (blue state) and McCain (R- "Maverick"), and then add in Clinton, it's almost as if the press has decided to conduct a soft palace coup, and they want 'someone like us'.

'Like us' is apparently defined as being decisively inexperienced, ignorant, loud-mouthed, and clueless. I would guess these are the same sort of people that think Unity '08 was a good plan.

m, all he needs to do is add Lieberman to the ticket and he's set

Posted by max | June 13, 2007 6:45 PM

Maybe its time the dems pester Gore to throw his hat in after all.

Its amazing that people thing that this will help matters. This is the guy who already ceded the Presidency once.

Posted by goethean | June 13, 2007 7:51 PM

"The press, however, doesn't seem to care about this."

Sure they do. If they thought for a moment he meant it, they'd be working a lot harder to sabotoge his campaign. But they don't think that, so they're only too glad to assist him in misleading Republican primary voters.

They wouldn't be helping him with that if they didn't care.

Posted by Brett Bellmore | June 13, 2007 8:03 PM

"Also, it's understandable that a mayor would have a different approach to illegals: immigration policy is federal, and since federal authorities haven't shown much zeal for enforcing federal laws on immigration, it's hard to expect mayors to be more Catholic than the Pope here."

Maybe I'm wrong, but the issue isn't that he had a different opinion on what the laws should be or was lazy in enforcing them. It's that he openly advocated breaking the law, if what others have said is correct.

Posted by Brian | June 13, 2007 9:00 PM

Brian, basically you are correct. Fred is clueless, as usual.

Posted by jason | June 13, 2007 11:06 PM

"It's that he openly advocated breaking the law, if what others have said is correct."

Openly advocating breaking the law would be if Giuliani (or Koch, or any big city mayor) encouraged Mexicans to illegally cross the border to get here. They didn't. What Rudy did do was continue a Koch-era policy instructing the police not to inquire about immigration status. The reason for this was not to encourage illegal immigration to America (not something mayors control), but to remove a disincentive for members of his large illegal alien community from reporting crimes to the police, or going to the hospital when they were sick, etc.

Posted by Fred | June 14, 2007 12:40 AM

Yea, didn't Obama get plenty of crap for not having put forth specific ideas and policies? And this was before there were any debates, etc.

In fact, isn't one of the most common criticisms of Democrats that "they don't have any plans"?

Your liberal media, folks!

p.s. Al Gore is not the answer. The media is goading him into running so they can destroy him again. Al Gore knows this and that's why he's not running. Taking on the media while you're running for President isn't a reciple for success. He can do much better away from it all.

Posted by JF | June 14, 2007 10:51 AM

How come I never noticed that Giuliani is George Bluth before?

Posted by DaveL | June 14, 2007 8:07 PM