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Giuliani Does Abortion-Adoption Dance for GOP Voters

Is betting that enough pro-life advocates will vote for him to secure GOP nomination

By Peter J. Smith

DES MOINES, Iowa, August 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As Republican candidates get ready for the presidential primaries, Iowa will become the first test to determine whether front-runner and pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani can capitalize on his strategy of winning over enough social conservatives to capture the Republican nomination.

Giuliani has banked on a strategy of urging the GOP's "values voters" to focus more on the economy and national security than on his abortion and homosexual rights positions, which he has not explicitly renounced. Iowa is an important battleground for Giuliani, since a Giuliani win on January 14 would effectively predict him gaining enough support from social conservatives in other state primaries to secure the GOP presidential nomination.

The hero-mayor of the September 11 terror attacks has gained large appeal from GOP voters for his tough talk on national security, fighting Islamic global jihad, and strengthening the US economy. Yet to win, Giuliani needs the support of the GOP's crucial pro-life bloc and other social conservatives, which is hindered by his support for legal unfettered abortion. 

Newsday reports, however, that Giuliani is betting that enough pro-life advocates will vote for him to secure the GOP nomination.

"Yes, I believe they will," Giuliani said on his way to another campaign stop. "At least enough [of them] so that I'm going to win the nomination."

If he is the Republican nominee, Giuliani believes he would be in a better position to win over liberal states such as California and New York in the presidential election than his pro-life conservative rivals.

Giuliani has employed a twofold strategy to ameliorate his position among pro-life voters. At a campaign stop in Mason City, he emphasized promoting adoptions and reducing a "need" for abortion, while still giving women the "right" to abort their children. This he claims, gives him common ground with pro-life voters and would keep them from hemorrhaging from the GOP should he capture the nomination.

"The common ground here is that I have already a definable record of increasing adoptions and decreasing abortions," Giuliani said. Giuliani said adoptions went up 133% and abortions down 16% through tax-credits and other programs during his tenure as mayor of New York.

"I would expand that nationally," Giuliani continued.

At a stop in Clear Lake, Giuliani stated the second part of his "pro-life strategy" by telling voters that he would nominate "strict constitutionalist" judges like John Roberts and Samuel Alito, who might overturn Roe v. Wade. Giuliani stated he would not seek to overturn Roe.

A Giuliani nomination, however, is likely to signal an end to the influence of the pro-life constituency in the Republican Party, which adopted the pro-life plank to its platform in 1980 and has nominated a pro-life candidate ever since. A pro-abortion Giuliani presidency would also place Giuliani at odds with a pro-life Congress, should Republicans manage to regain control and pass pro-life legislation.

Traditionally the Iowa Straw Poll in Ames on August 11 has had a long record of predicting the winner of the Iowa Caucus in January. Giuliani, however, has bowed out of the straw poll, essentially to give more time to his campaign in Iowa, where Mitt Romney runs strong among social conservatives and has waged an effective advertising campaign.

See previous LIfeSiteNews.com reports on Giuliani:

Lightning Cuts Off Mic Twice During Giuliani's Defense of Abortion Support
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07060603.html

Republican Candidates Romney, Giuliani, McCain Repudiate Government Effort to Save Terri Schiavo
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07052511.html

Giuliani Defends Abortion Position as He Struggles to Convince Conservatives
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/may/07051408.html

Bush, Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, etc. React to Partial Birth Abortion Ban Ruling
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07041902.html

Bishop Blasts Rudy Guiliani Position on Abortion as "Pathetic", "Confusing", "Hypocritical"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07060405.html ;

Giuliani Outrages Conservatives With "Get Beyond" Abortion Snipe
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07041705.html

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