verte76
Blue Crack Addict
The right wing of the Republican Party will kill Giuliani. That's too bad, because he's the only Republican worth a damn in my book.
verte76 said:The right wing of the Republican Party will kill Giuliani. That's too bad, because he's the only Republican worth a damn in my book.
On paper, Rudy's unsure
Giuliani's government filings don't lend hints to his presidential run - he hasn't submitted a declaration form or checked the Republican box
BY CRAIG GORDON
NEWSDAY WASHINGTON BUREAU; Staff writer Tom Brune contributed to this story.
February 2, 2007
WASHINGTON - Republicans looking at Rudolph Giuliani's campaign for president always ask two questions - is he really running, and is he a "real Republican?"
They're probably not going to like the answers found by Newsday in Giuliani's government filings.
The ex-mayor still is holding back from submitting the simple one-page form declaring himself a possible candidate, despite raising $1.4 million to run. And asked what party he belongs to on a different form, Giuliani didn't say - he left the answer blank.
Not so for chief rivals John McCain and Mitt Romney. Both have filed the candidacy paperwork, and both gave a straightforward answer when asked their party affiliation: "Rep," or Republican.
Giuliani's campaign insisted he isn't spending enough to file a statement of candidacy - a view one election-law expert disputed last night - and that leaving out his party was a meaningless omission.
"The mayor continues to be a proud member of the Republican Party, and we are extremely encouraged by the response from Republicans across the country to his potential run for president," Giuliani spokeswoman Katie Levinson said.
The documents appear likely to fuel doubts among Republicans about whether Giuliani really wants to run. Many still remember his on-again, off-again interest in running for Senate in 2000, a campaign he ultimately quit after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The seeming dodge on his party affiliation, however, could make some Republicans see red.
It's no secret Giuliani would have a better shot at the White House if he didn't have to win the Republican nomination first. His views on social issues are out of step with his party.
And the omission raises the question of whether Giuliani is leaving the door open a crack to run not as a Republican at all, but as an independent.
Giuliani's campaign confirmed that leaving off the Republican designation wasn't a typo. It was the campaign's "judgment that we didn't have to fill in that box," said a campaign lawyer. The lawyer said an update filed Wednesday lists him as a Republican, though that form couldn't be found on the Federal Election Commission Web site.
The lawyer said Giuliani held back a statement of candidacy in November because he genuinely wasn't sure he'd run. He's still just "testing the waters," the lawyer said, on condition of anonymity.
Another election-law expert, Kenneth Gross, said Giuliani's spending exceeds the FEC cut-off for merely testing a possible race and that he now should file the added paperwork.
This isn't Giuliani's first unusual filing. In 1998, he filed a statement of candidacy - but put on the line for office sought "undecided." Responding to an FEC query, he replied, "I am as of now still undecided as to the federal office, if any, for which I may become a candidate."
Headache in a Suitcase said:perhaps rudy won't need the republican party...
a dream of rudy and mayor mike running a self financed independent ticket together just flashed through my head... surely to be crushed in due times.
U2democrat said:
Hey that's my favorite Mellencamp song!
Aaaaaaanyway...I feel weird to not be backing anyone at this point. I keep waffling among several different candidates, but I haven't made up my mind.
MrsSpringsteen said:WASHINGTON (AP) -- Comedian Al Franken has decided to run for U.S. Senate in Minnesota in challenging incumbent Republican Norm Coleman, a senior Democratic official told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The official, who requested anonymity because Franken has not made an announcement, said that the comedian and former star of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" told her of his decision recently.
Andy Barr, the political director of Franken's Midwest Values Political Action Committee, declined to comment.
The news was not unexpected. Franken has been calling members of the Minnesota congressional delegation to get their input on a run, and he announced this week that he would be leaving his show on Air America Radio on Feb. 14. He told listeners he would be making a decision on a race soon.
Should he win the Democratic primary in Minnesota, Franken would take on Coleman, a first-term senator who is among the Democrats' top targets.
INDY500 said:
Your book is one page longer than my book:
'Democrats Worth A Damn'
By Indy500
80sU2isBest said:
That would be a short book; it would only have one page and 3 words:
Zell Miller, Retired.
Irvine511 said:
do you really think Zell Miller is worth a damn?
come on -- i can think of some Replublicans worth a damn, are our conservatives in FYM so partisan that they can't find a single democrat they like?
Irvine511 said:
do you really think Zell Miller is worth a damn?
come on -- i can think of some Replublicans worth a damn, are our conservatives in FYM so partisan that they can't find a single democrat they like?
80sU2isBest said:
I do think that you calling the 3 or 4 of us conservatives "partisan" is kinda funny considering how many liberal free your minders are every bit as partisan.
Why don't you ask Verte that question; Verte was the one who said that Rudy was the only good Republican.
80sU2isBest said:
That would be a short book; it would only have one page and 3 words:
Zell Miller, Retired.
INDY500 said:
Of coarse it's tongue in cheek. There are many retired or ex-Democrats like Zell Miller, David Boren and of coarse Ronald Ray-gun, as Bono called him. I've voted for Evan Bayh for Gov & the Senate. In addition, several of the new House and Senate members may prove to "be worth a damn."
Curious, why only question the conservatives about partisanship and not Verte76? After all, out of the thousands of elected Republicans, Verte76 finds but one "worth a damn." It's not like my name is U2Republican or something.
80sU2isBest said:I do think that you calling the 3 or 4 of us conservatives "partisan" is kinda funny considering how many liberal free your minders are every bit as partisan.
Irvine511 said:
because, by definition, liberals are capable of nuanced and sophisticated thinking, so i thusly took verte76's comments as mildly in jest; with a conservative, and their biologically-based inabilities to deal with complexity and ambiguity, one must verify their abilities to handle nuance and subtlety, as well as humor.
Irvine511 said:
why are there only 3 or 4 of you?
there used to be more. where have they gone? why don't they stick around to make arguments? why do they flee when challenged?
is it harder to be a conservative in 2007 than it was in 2004? have the arguments been disproved? are the conservatives in disarray? has Bush destroyed their credibility? do conservatives need to, "go away and dream it all up again?"
Irvine511 said:
because, by definition, liberals are capable of nuanced and sophisticated thinking, so i thusly took verte76's comments as mildly in jest; with a conservative, and their biologically-based inabilities to deal with complexity and ambiguity, one must verify their abilities to handle nuance and subtlety, as well as humor.
80sU2isBest said:
The truth is that many liberals in this forum have a superiority complex; they consistently imply that if someone doesn't agree with the left, that person is intellectually inferior.
Or maybe it's the whole "safety in numbers" thing. Go and try to participate in a forum in which 98 percent of the members are conservatives, and you'll know how it feels.
80sU2isBest said:
Or maybe it's the whole "safety in numbers" thing. Go and try to participate in a forum in which 98 percent of the members are conservatives, and you'll know how it feels.
BonoVoxSupastar said:
I think there is a victim mentality by some in here, and I think it comes from being outnumbered rather than superiority complexes. I am the minority in many places, I actually find it more stimulating.
80sU2isBest said:
What a crock of crap. A funny crock of crap, but a crock of crap nevertheless.
You see, I do understand humor.
Irvine511 said:
okay, i was joking, but on a serious note ...
one thing that strikes me about a genuine thought difference between liberals and conservatives is how they process information. bear with me here. for example, in my experience, a conservative is more likely to accept something as a source of truth and then see how information measures up to the pre-selected source. so, if you believe the Bible as a source of inerrant truth, most issues/information are processed through that filter.
Irvine511 said:for a conservative, tradition and authority -- from whever you might find it -- matter. traditional values are what's known, so they must be adhered to.
Irvine511 said:note that none of this is predicated upon intelligence, or saying that it's better to see ambiguity than it is to stick to convictions.
80sU2isBest said:
I've seen so many examples of "I can't believe someone would be stupid enough to believe that", I couldn't even begin to count them.
Heck, we see at least one example of the superiority complex in this thread.
BonoVoxSupastar said:
There are times where I'm like "I can't imagine someone believing that" as are you and everyone else. That's just fact.
BonoVoxSupastar said:Have I ever called anyone stupid? Have I ever said their view isn't valid?
BonoVoxSupastar said:No, for we don't all fit in the box to which you throw us.