Rudy Giuliani Leading the Polls: Can a Pro-Choice Candidate Win the Republican Nomination?

A USA Today Gallup Poll for May 4-6, 2007 reports that Rudy Giuliani has a 61 percent Favorable rating. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is leading the Republicans and the Democrats.

Republican John McCain has a 50 percent Favorable rating and is followed by former Republican senator Fred Thompson (27 percent Favorable) and Governor Mitt Romney (24 percent Favorable). Law and Order's Fred Thompson has not officially thrown his hat into the ring.

Democrat Hillary Clinton has a 50 percent Favorable rating per the Gallup Poll. Senator Clinton ties with Senator Barak Obama, also at a 50 percent Favorable rating. They are followed by Democrats John Edwards and Al Gore, both at 49 percent Favorable.

When asked "Which of the following candidates would you be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for President in the year 2008?", Republicans polled reported 34% would support Giuliani, 20% would support John McCain and 13% would support Fred Thompson. Giuliani, McCain and Thompson are currently in the lead on that question. Seven percent polled said they would most likely support Mitt Romney.

Does Giuliani's 61 percent Favorable Rating demonstrate that the historically pro-life Republican Party is weighing national defense and Islamic terrorism more heavily than its traditional anti-abortion ideology?

Giuliani is pro-choice. At the California Republican debate, Giuliani gave an answer that may not have made many ultra-conservatives happy. When asked about abortion at the recent Republican debate, Giuliani said,

"This is a very, very difficult issue of conscience for many, many people. In my case, I hate abortion. I would encourage someone to not take that option. When I was mayor of New York City, I encouraged adoptions. Adoptions went up 65, 70 percent. Abortions went down 16 percent.

But ultimately, since it is an issue of conscience, I would respect a woman's right to make a different choice.

I support the ban on partial-birth abortion. I support the Hyde amendment. But ultimately, I think when you come down to that choice, you have to respect a woman's right to make that choice differently than my conscience."

On terrorism, Giuliani advocates not backing down and not going on the defensive:

"You will lead from hope, and we should never retreat in the face of terrorism. Terrible mistake. "

About Iran's nuclear program, and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Giuliani made these statements:

"Ahmadinejad is clearly irrational.

He has to understand it's not an option; he cannot have nuclear weapons. And he has to look at an American president and he has to see Ronald Reagan. Remember, they looked in Ronald Reagan's eyes, and in two minutes, they released the hostages. "

Giuliani also demonstrated knowledge about Islam during the debate. This is important to Republicans and others interested in national security and the increasing threat of radical Islam to the U.S.. When asked to describe the difference between a Sunni and a Shia Muslim, Giuliani answered,

"The difference is the descendant of Mohammed. The Sunnis believe that Mohammed -- the caliphate should be selected, and the Shiites believe that it should be by descent. And then of course there was a slaughter of Shiites in the early part of the history of Islam, and it has infected a lot of the history of Islam, which is really very unfortunate."

While Giuliani has stated that to retreat in the face of terrorism would be a terrible mistake (he was the mayor of New York City on and after the events of 911), every Republican nominee since 1980 has opposed abortion. Rudy Giuliani's 61 percent Favorable Rating seems to make a strong statement from the GOP about the importance of being strong in the War on Terror.

Yesterday, Politico.com reported that Rudy Giuliani made six donations to Planned Parenthood in the 90s. Planned Parenthood is one of the U.S.'s leading abortion rights groups. Planned Parenthood is the top provider of abortions in the U.S. Presidential candidate Giuliani has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose.

Will this affect the next round of polls? It will be interesting to see.

Sources:

USA TODAY/Gallup Poll, May 7,2007, http://www.usatoday.com/news/polls/tables/live/2007-05-07-poll.htm (rudy giuliani, republicans, presidential race, presidential debate, Islam, abortion, pro-life, pro-choice)

California Republican debate transcript, MSNBC, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18478985/ (rudy giuliani, republicans, presidential race, presidential debate, Islam, abortion, pro-life, pro-choice)

Giuliani gave to Planned Parenthood, Politico.com, May 8, 2007, http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/3876.html(rudy giuliani, republicans, presidential race, presidential debate, Islam, abortion, pro-life, pro-choice)