Despite polling to the contrary, Tapper reported Republicans "seemed willing to overlook" Giuliani's "liberal views"
On the March 5 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper declared that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) "seems coated in political Teflon" because conservatives "seemed willing to overlook" Giuliani's "liberal views on abortion, gay rights, and gun control" for "one reason": his response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In fact, recent public-opinion polling shows that many conservatives and Republicans are unaware of Giuliani's "liberal views" on the aforementioned issues, and when made aware of his positions, they have indicated they are less likely to support Giuliani.
According to a Newsweek poll conducted February 28-March 1, "[o]nly a quarter (26 percent) of Republican voters claim to know "a lot" about the pro-choice and pro-gun-control Giuliani, while a full third (34 percent) admit to knowing little or nothing about him." The poll found that a "large number say that knowing where he stands on those issues and his opposition to a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage will hurt his chances with them." Fifty percent of "self-identified social conservatives" indicated that Giuliani's "support of Roe v. Wade would at least make them less likely to support him," while 44 percent "say the same of his opposition to a ban on same-sex marriage;" and 30 percent "say his stance on gun control could lead them to support someone else."
A February 22-25 Washington Post/ABC News poll yielded similar results. Forty-six percent of respondents who "leaned Republican" indicated they would be "less likely" to vote for Giuliani after being informed that "Giuliani has been a supporter of legal abortion and gay civil unions." Of that 46 percent, nearly half -- 49 percent -- stated that given his views on gay civil unions and abortion, there would be "no chance" they would "vote for Giuliani for the Republican nomination for president."
Also, a February 23-26 poll conducted for Time magazine found that 68 percent of respondents "do not know anything about Giuliani's position on gun control (47%) or think he opposes gun control (21%)." The poll also found that "38% of Republicans and 30% of voters overall say they are less likely to support a candidate favoring gun control."
To show why Giuliani's "liberal views" are purportedly being "overlooked" by conservatives, Tapper aired a "person on the street" interview with an unidentified New Yorker who stated that Giuliani was her "hero" because of his actions on 9-11. Media Matters for America has documented (here, here, here, here, here, here) numerous media figures' hyping of Giuliani as a "hero" while ignoring allegations that Giuliani was responsible for terrorism-related failures before, during, and after the September 11 attacks.
From the March 5 edition of ABC News' World News with Charles Gibson:
TAPPER: For now, at least, Giuliani seems coated in political Teflon, even when the former big-city mayor with liberal views on abortion, gay rights, and gun control addressed a conference of red-meat conservatives.
GEORGE F. WILL (Washington Post columnist and conservative pundit): Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you a man for whom pugnacity is a political philosophy, Rudolph Giuliani.
GIULIANI: You and I have a lot of common beliefs that are the same, and we have some that are different.
TAPPER: They seemed willing to overlook those differences for one reason.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: He was my hero. Really helped us all through very, very difficult times when life here in America, and especially in New York, was in total chaos.
TAPPER: Observers say it is a unique phenomenon based on an intense emotional moment.
I guess turrists skeer the Troglodytes even more than homersexuals.
But not as much as atheists.
Atheists? Yikes! That reminds me of something off topic, but I have to bring it up. Remember during the last election there were flyers going around that the Democrats wanted to ban the Bible? Just shows how gullible these people really are.
I remember that one. I can't believe that even the very dumbest Republicans took it seriously. Then again, a former in-law of mine voted for Bush because "Gore will take away my guns." Idiots.
I know some people who vote for Republicans based on fiscal responsibility, national security, morals/values and government keeping outta their business. Har.
I did actually hear a Christian radio talker warning that the homosexuals would increase their formidable power, and Christians would become even more marginalized, under Democrats.I can hardly find a church for all the "gay houses" in my neighborhood.
"numerous media figures' hyping of Giuliani as a "hero" while ignoring allegations that Giuliani was responsible for terrorism-related failures before, during, and after the September 11 attacks."
So its either Bushs fault or Giuliani;s fault . Which one is it? And in the 1993 WTC bombing was that Dinkins fault or Clintons fault? Its ridiculous, just like saying Rudy was the hero on that day. New Yorkers were heroes on that day , Rudy was just the leader. He did lead vs. our own President however. This is why he is given this attention by the MSM
So, MMA is ignoring all the polls that have Giuliani creaming every other Republican candidate at this point in time?
I think the point is the "disregarding of his liberal views", since a large chunk of them don't really know his views. They just know that he walked around a lot in front of the cameras on 9-11 and got rid of the pee smell in New York's subways.
I have to agree with you, dexteritas0071418. It's a bit disingenuous to cite all of these "what if" polls while ignoring the most fundamental poll about Giuliani's standing (i. e., how Giuliani compares to other Republican candidates).
I see MMfA's point here, but let's be honest people!
They won't have to "overlook" his liberal positions. By this time next year, he'll have renounced every single of one of them. It's not like he hasn't done it before.
In the meantime, however, there's always the rightwing spin machine to take care of that pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control nastiness. Anytime I would mention these positions - especially the pro-gun control stance - to any rightwingers in discussion forums, they already had a stock answer to it based, as usual, in racism.
The most typical response was that Giuliani HAD to enforce strict gun control in New York City because of "all of the animals running rampant" there and how it "had to be cleaned up". The response was so strikingly similar from so many of them, I figured that it had been supplied by some right wing media master, like Limbaugh.
The other typical response from many of them would be based in a "conservative value" that I think they don't quite realize they're endorsing: an embrace of dishonesty. They would argue that Giuliani "had" to be pro-choice and pro-gay rights in New York City in order to get elected, but that was to just use the liberals in order to get his "real" agenda through when he could get to higher office.
In other words, they're HOPING that Giuliani is a dishonest flip-flopper who would say anything to get elected, as long as they can be certain that it was LIBERALS he was lying to first.
Hmm, soft on abortion, gay equality, and firearms control. Yet supports massive military/industrial state with growing prison under-system. Supports the profits of the wealthy to the profits of the many. Will promote and would most probably prosecute wars of agression. 1% of liberalism does not a moderate make.
Robertson, Falwell and Phelps told us that gays were responsible for 9/11.
Rudy supports gays.
Rudy supports the 9/11 attackers.
Oh no, Mr Bill.