I sat in on this afternoon’s blogger’s conference call which was hosted by Patrick Ruffini and featured Giuliani Campaign Manager Michael DuHaime and Communications Director Katie Levinson.
Here are the highlights:
DuHaime opened the call by stating that they will continue to stress Mayor Giuliani’s strong record of accomplishment in NYC in the areas of crime reduction, economic reform, lowering taxes, etc… They will work hard to make voters aware Rudy’s record of proven results.
They continue to feel good about the polling results they are seeing. Three national polls were released last week that show Hizzoner with an average lead of 10 points. They early primary states will all be close. But the impact of Florida moving to late January, as many large states moving up to Feb 5th, will have an enormous impact. Rudy continues to enjoy double-digits leads in all of these delegate rich states.
Jennifer Rubin asked whether the accelerated primary calendar had raised any concerns. DuHaime responded that the accelerated schedule places financial constraints on all of the candidates in terms of choosing to spend their money where it will do the most good. Fundraising is all the more critical due to the enormous cost of advertising in large media markets. However, this will take time away from retail politics. Campaigns will need to be able to balance the two.
Skip Murphy then asked if Rudy’s position on abortion is hurting him with conservatives. DuHaime replied that as a whole, conservatives will find that they agree with Rudy Giuliani much more than they disagree with him. Voters will evaluate all of the candidates on the entirely of their records-and when they do they will find that Rudy is the best overall candidate.
Doug Lambert then asked DuHaime’s opinion on the perception that Mayor Giuliani faired poorly in last week’s debate. DuHaime stated that he felt Rudy did very well. The limited amount of time afforded to each candidate really only allowed each of the ten participants to introduce themselves to viewers and did not allow for much depth in the discussion of the issues. DuHaime believes that future debates will afford candidates the opportunity to present their records and positions in greater depth.
Soren Dayton then asked for a comment on Chris Matthews question of whether religious conservatives are good for the Republican Party. Does Rudy see the GOP as the “Pro-Life Party”? The response was that the GOP is a big enough party to tolerate a diversity of opinion, and that no single issue will be the litmus test of whether someone is a conservative. The GOP is also the party of economic conservativism and winning the War on Terror. DuHaime also noted that there are far more Democrats that there are Republican in the United States today. So the successful winning GOP candidate in the general election will be the candidate who united a coalition of conservative, moderate, and liberal Republicans, as well as conservative Democrats and Independents. Rudy is by far the best candidate to accomplish this. In addition to Red States, Rudy will win NJ, CT, OR, and WI-and will have an excellent opportunity to win NY, CA, an IL as well. Even if Rudy does not end up winning NY, CA, and IL in the general, the fact that the Dems will have to spend money in the most expensive media markets in the nation (that they have been able to ignore for the past few elections) will be key.
Karl Bucus then asked if his perception that Rudy is a federalist on many of the hot-button social issues is correct, or whether this is simply a product of his own projection. DuHaime answered that Mayor Giuliani has an amazing grasp of the U.S. Constitution as well as the Federalist Papers, so is fully aware of the proper sphere in which many of these issues belong. He concluded that it is reasonable to conclude that Rudy is a federalist on many of these issues.
The final question was regarding Fred Thompson’s entry into the race. DuHaime responded that in his personal opinion, all candidates are welcome and that FDT’s entry into the race can only strengthen the field as a whole and contribute to a thorough debate of all of the critical issues of the race from many different perspectives.
All in all, it was a fairly informative call. Team Giuliani has stated that this is just one of many blogger conference calls to come. I will continue to provide the recaps as they happen.
May 7th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Sounds like Team Rudy continues to whistle past the abortion clinic, which in my opinion is exactly the right thing for them to do. Perhaps his future answers to “the question” will incoporate more of this “80%-ally” style of speaking, instead of defending of a woman’s “right to choose”.
Of course, if he follows this strategy it’s simply a slower way to lose. He’s been pretty open about his strategy of winning the nomination…pretend that there are no pro-life GOP candidates who can successfully address the other big issues of GWOT and fiscal policy, and hope that pro-life voters aren’t paying attention.
My personal favorite quote from the interview:
Team Rudy is not without its sense of humor.
May 7th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
Murphy when are you and others like you in the republican party going to GIVE UP harping on the abortion issue? Maybe things like THIS will help???
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070506-104026-1594r.htm
May 7th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
KT, very well put.
If only I and all the rest of the “ignorant, stubborn, mean, ultra-right-wing” pro-lifers (as you call us) could simply “get beyond” (as Rudy puts it) the issue of killing over a million lives a year.
I honestly wish you were Team Rudy’s spokesperson…your candor is refreshing. It would make this campaign season just fly by. Instead, it’s gonna take all summer to drag Rudy down whilst he pulls this “80%-ally” and “strict constructionism” and “effectively pro-life” baloney.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Kavon,
Here are the notes on the conference call from Brian Faughnan, reporting for The Weekly Standard.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2007/05/talking_with_the_giuliani_team_1.asp
May 7th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Anybody in the GOP field but Rudy will lose in 2008. I’m in favor of abortion, but honestly, for those of you who aren’t — do you honestly think the other candidates could beat Obama or Hillary? Do you really think a Democrat is going to appoint better Supreme Court justices than Rudy?!
Politics is a game you play to win, not to make a point. Stand on the sidelines if you want to make a point, and if you do it well enough, maybe you can win actually playing the game. Principle isn’t everything when it comes to getting things done. If you want something done, you have to be realistic — only Rudy can win in 2008 against a Clinton-Obama ticket.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
ThatLibertarianGuy (in #5), in the Quinnipiac poll released last week, Senator McCain (who I am not very big on) defeated Clinton, Gore, and Obama head to head (as did Giuliani). And the only other Republican tested against those three Democrats, Fred Thompson, lost to all of them but came very close for a guy who 63% said, in the same poll, they did not know enough about to form an opinion as to favorability.
The tag line from Giuliani supporters that he is the only Republican who can win in November is utter baloney. You might want to cite some support for your claim, otherwise call it a personal opinion.
The Democrat front-runners all have exceedingly high negatives, and of course they don’t have answers on most of the serious problems confronting the country. There are plenty of Republicans who could win in November of 2008 once the match up is firm and the contrast made. The primary campaign is in large part an exercise in vetting all Republican candidates for the purpose of determining who would be the strongest and least vulnerable – and that process has barely begun (though as it has we see the Mayor’s poll numbers slipping badly).
May 7th, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Kavon, if Mike DuHaime believes that the Mayor has a strong grasp of the constitutional law then clearly Mr. DuHaime does not himself have a strong grasp of constitutional law, which would not be surprising.
The U.S. Supreme Court has said it is unconstitutional for state and local governments to fund purely federal programs – as the Mayor has suggested should occur in the case of state and local governments paying to subsidize abortions for poor people since the U.S. Supreme Court has deemed abortion a fundamental right and the Hyde Amendment is the law of the land. Nor has the U.S. Supreme Court, or even the Congress for that matter, suggested that the law of the land is that fundamental rights must be subsidized by the government.
DuHaime is probably not even in the Giuliani inner circle. The key political operative in the Giuliani campaign is chief strategist Chris Henick, who has probably by now penetrated the inner circle of close confidants from Giuliani’s days as Mayor, having worked at Giuliani Partners LLC for awhile, comprised of Tony Carbonetti, Randy Levine, Sunny Mindel, Peter Powers, and Dennison Young. DuHaime is a campaign flak and a spokesperson, job title notwithstanding.
May 7th, 2007 at 10:30 pm
As an unabashed Rudy supporter (www.rudysfirefighters.com) I will say that I’m an atypical Republican. My libertarian leanings do not ingratiate me to the so-con wing of the party, but I do recognize the need to be sympathetic to their cause and values. To suggest Rudy should simply ignore them is folly and will lead to the demise of the Republican Party in the same manner the Dems are (or have) going through now. The Dems largely marginalized their kook wing of their party fro decades. Now, that element has become incredibly powerful and vocal despite it being the minority view within the party. Similarly, the so-cons can, have and will hurt any republican candidate who cavalierly dismisses their views as being “fringe.” Moreover, attempts to diminish this group in any significant and vocal way will only infuriate those of us who are slightly pro-choice but respect the views of the pro-lifers. That will have the uninvited affect of driving more of the moderates, who distain things like partial birth abortions, to the right. Point being, if Giuliani can stay focused on two key areas (judges and state/local control) he will win over the so-cons who, despite their passions, can be a pragmatic and realistic bunch. If Rudy can assure them he will appoint strict constructionists, who will not invent law but interpret the Constitution more squarely, and can assure, as Reagan did, he fundamentally believes in local and state control, he’ll have gone a long way to winning them over.
thanks
steve
http://www.rudysfirefighters.com
May 7th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Steve: My libertarian leanings do not ingratiate me to the so-con wing of the party, but I do recognize the need to be sympathetic to their cause and values.
Pro-choice Rudy supporters who recognize the need to be supportive of the pro-life cause in the interests of providing a united coalition are in short supply. Welcome.
As for Rudy providing assurances to socons regarding strict constructionist judges, I think that ship has sailed. Rudy defines himself as a pro-abortion strict constructionist…couched in that kind of world view, the phrase is utterly meaningless to the religious right.
May 8th, 2007 at 6:29 am
Murph;
Thanks for the warm welcome. I think too many so-cons are hoping for the ideal candidate to come along and sweep them off their feet – aka R. Reagan. But, this election is going to hinge on the independent voter more than at any other time in our history. Bush has been turned into such a divisive figure by the left that any candidate that appears to be of his strip will cause the moderates and independents to flee en masse to the left, which will be catastrophic for the cause of smaller and less intrusive government not to mention the impact on the key social issues so-cons are so concerned over. I truly believe that if by the Fall either Thompson has not entered the race or Rudy has gained such a sizeable lead in the polls that it will make it virtually impossible for any candidate to catch him by the first primaries so-cons will jump aboard the Rudy bandwagon. The key for the Giuliani campaign is to continue to assure voters, as he has done since entering the race albeit not as forcefully as I would like, that he is both a states’ rights advocate and a true believer in judicial constructionism he will then go a long way in securing the so-con vote. Truth be told, so-cons are far more effective at the state level on those “right-to-life” issues than they are nationally. And, as we have witnessed since the Warren Supremes, the courts have increasingly taken on an activist role and been more influential in dictating social policy than the Congress or the President directly, which makes this election so critical and, don’t think that has gone unnoticed by the dems. They are apoplectic over the prospect of either Bush or another Repub president appointing what will amount to at least 1-2 new Justices. That will have a much more profound and long-term impact on those social issues then anything Congress or the President can affect directly that’s why dems are so eager to win in ‘08 too much at stake for them.
steve
http://www.rudysfirefighters.com