Wednesday, August 08, 2007

RUDY GIULIANI

The Results, So Far, On Whether Pro-Lifers Will Work To Elect Rudy

Okay, just finished totaling the latest batch of reader mail on whether pro-life grassroots Republicans will volunteer for Rudy if he gets the nomination.

First observations - this is truly a gut-level issue for a lot of folks, and a lot of readers can justify their stands with passion, eloquence, and compelling arguments. I'll put up a longer post with excerpts from reader mail, and try to see if there's a clear geographic breakdown, but for now, the raw numbers: 

The "Hell No" category: 29. These are folks who adamantly oppose a pro-choice candidate getting the Republican nomination, who often said they wouldn't vote for Rudy, even in a race against Hillary, and who were inclined to use the phrase, "I wouldn't lift a finger." Many of them had considerable experience volunteering for previous Republican campaigns. I was struck by one reader's comment that "if pro-lifers allow the GOP to nominate a pro-choice candidate, we become like African-Americans to the Democrats - just another loyal constituency that can be taken for granted."

The "Maybe" category: 3. These folks haven't decided, and are generally hoping they'll be spared the decision when a pro-life Republican gets the party's nomination.

The "I Wouldn't Volunteer For Rudy, But I'd Be Active For State and Local Candidates" category: 15. These folks generally are politically active, and aren't inclined to sit on their hands come election season. Some of these folks said they would support Rudy, some wouldn't.

The "Sure, I'd volunteer for Rudy" category: 36. The two most common comments were arguments that these folks trusted Rudy on judges, and that Rudy would be way better on the issue than Hillary.

The "I'm Not a Die-Hard Pro-Lifer, But I Would Volunteer For Rudy" category: 9. Some pro-lifers have other issues they consider more important; a lot of these folks mentioned Rudy cleaning up New York City and his stands on the war on terror.

The "I'm Pro-Choice And Will Volunteer For Rudy" category: 1.

My initial reaction? These numbers -again, I recognize not a perfect sample - suggest that while far from all pro-life grassroots Republicans would stay home for Rudy, it's a large enough chunk to concern his campaign and the party as a whole.

08/08 10:21 AMShare