Thoughts on a Rudy Giuliani nomination

There’s a discussion going on over at Hot Air over Dr. James Dobson’s declaration that he absolutely cannot and will not vote for Rudy should he become the nominee, and how much influence he carries within Christian conservative circles. I wrote the following in the comments section there, which I wanted to repost here:

I can’t see myself pulling the lever for Rudy in 2008, should it come to that, and it has nothing to do with anything James Dobson or any other prominent Christian conservative has to say about it.

Once upon a time I was a pro-abortion Democrat who supported one who was staunchly pro-abortion: Bubba. I know my vote was just one vote, but nevertheless every vote for Clinton was one that helped put him in office. A few years after that I became pro-life and think back on my pro-abortion days with a great deal of shame, because I have felt responsible for contributing to the ‘culture of death’ with both my support for abortion ‘rights’ and my support of Bubba (the first time around, not the second).

While it was extremely liberating for me to go from being pro-abortion to pro-life, the level of guilt I felt for contributing in my own way to the ‘culture of death’ was/is great enough that I would be extremely reluctant to put someone back in office who is pro-abortion, even though that person is a member of my political party. For some of us, it’s not an issue where you really feel like there’s any room for compromise. In other words, it’s not an issue I can sacrifice (put on the back burner) just because there are so many other big issues at stake.

I think most Republicans have their hot button issues they won’t compromise on. Immigration is one of them. The Republican base has made it clear that they will under no circumstances support anyone who voices support or who voted for the Senate’s amnesty bill today. Heck, I know people who have unregistered (is that even a word?) from the Republican party over this issue out of sheer anger, and that was before today’s vote for amnesty. I’m not a hardliner on immigration – I see myself more in the middle on the issue, so there is some wiggle room for me and the Republican candidates on that issue, whereas other Republicans won’t give an inch on it. That is certainly their right to do so.

My “no-compromise” issue is abortion. Whoever I support will have to take a pro-life stand. One of the few things our current president has been consistent on is his commitment to life (with the nominees to the Supreme Court, as well as his stance on PBA, cutting [of US] funding of abortions overseas, etc) and I feel like a vote for Rudy would be taking a step back, because I simply do not trust him to nominate people to the USSC in the mold of an Alito or Roberts. I also don’t trust that he would push back on a Democratic Congress (assuming the Dems maintain or increase their control next year) trying to rewrite laws on abortion, including the PBA ban.

Having said that, though, I wouldn’t actively campaign against Rudy should he become the nominee. I just don’t think I can vote for him.

At the same time, I realize that if enough people felt like I do about Rudy, that if he ended up being the Republican nominee, not voting for him in substantial numbers would pave the way for a Democratic rout in the presidential race, which would take us back to square one on abortion because there is not a frontrunner in the Dem party who is committed to pro-life causes and in fact will pander like there’s no tomorrow to the likes of NOW, NARAL, appoint liberal judges to the USSC, etc, so not voting for Rudy would contribute to the election of someone who has an even worse record on abortion than he does …

In fact, as far as the “top tier” Republicans go, the only one who I feel is sincere on the issue of abortion is John McCain. I want to believe Romney, but I still have some doubts about his sincerity. But I’d have a hard time pulling the lever for McCain, because I disagree with so much of his platform and don’t view him as a genuine conservative.

So if you’re pro-life and are committed to keeping a pro-life type in the WH, there aren’t any good options. It’s incredibly frustrating, because I feel there is no one for me to turn to, outside of a staunch pro-lifer like Mike Huckabee, and I really don’t see his candidacy going anywhere.

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Speaking of Rudy, this evening I took part in a podcast alongside Michael Illions – moderator, Lorie Byrd, John Hawkins and Liz Mair. The first thing we talked about was today’s amnesty bill, but the majority of the time we spent talking about Tuesday night’s debate, Rudy’s response to Ron Paul, and the performances of the candidates. You can listen to that podcast here.