The 2008 presidential campaign of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani went nowhere in large part because of his pro-abortion position . Now, the former mayor has admitted that his position on social issues keeps him from the nomination.
Giuliani was hailed as the Republican frontrunner for months — until GOP voters took a look at his pro-abortion record and thoroughly rejected his candidacy for the GOP nomination. Then, Giuliani went from leading the polls and obtaining the status as one of the most talked-about candidates on the Republican side in the mainstream media to a former candidate who failed to capture a single state in his quest for the nomination from the party where a majority of the voters are strongly pro-life.
In a speech today at the National Press Club, where he spoke about terrorism and national security concerns 10 years following the terrorist attacks that cost the lives of thousands of Americans in New York, Washington, DC and western Pennsylvania, Giuliani answered a question about a potential 2012 presidential bid with a frank admission.
“I would have a hard time getting nominated,” Giuliani said — acknowledging the problems that plague him as an abortion advocate.
“I’m simply not that conservative on social issues, and I’m not willing to change just to become president,” Giuliani added, according to a USA Today report.
Looking at the candidates in the field already, Giuliani said he has a “lot of admiration” for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has a lengthy pro-life record and has been given top grades from pro-life groups in his state for signing bills and pushing the pro-life agenda.
Giuliani would, if he runs again, get no love from the pro-life community — especially because of remarks from 2007 where he told pro-life voters to get over the abortion issue.
“Our party has to get beyond issues like that,” he told the Des Moines Register newspaper.
But a June 2008 poll conducted by the Polling Company for National Right to Life found 30 percent of voters say that the issue of abortion will affect their vote, with 20 percent of self-identified pro-life voters saying so and only 9 percent of pro-abortion voters saying so.
Breaking down the numbers further, 17 percent of voters said they would only vote for a candidate who shares their view on abortion, regardless of that view. Looking at that group, 12 percent said they would only vote for a pro-life candidate and just 4 percent said they would only support a candidate who backs abortion.
That gives pro-life candidates an eight percent advantage on the issue of abortion, says David O’Steen, the executive director of National Right to Life.
