Giuliani Claims Centrist Position; Dooms His Campaign

Here comes Captain Ed:

Rudy Giuliani either has given up attempting to sound conservative or has forgotten that all presidential primary politics is national in today’s media environment. While trying to woo Californians, Rudy claimed that he would govern in the same manner as Arnold Schwarzenegger has in the Golden State — a promise that may not thrill Republicans in or out of California:

Mayor Giuliani is telling California voters wondering what kind of president he would make that they need to look no further than their popular Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.”I governed very much like your governor does,” Mr. Giuliani said as he described his tenure as mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001. “I got results and I want people to look at that and say that’s the way I would govern as president of the United States. I would get results,” he said.

In a deft bit of political footwork, Mr. Giuliani managed to declare himself simpatico with the governor without actually specifying any of the issues where the two men hold similar views. Some of those stances, such as support for abortion rights and gay rights, antagonize large swaths of the Republican base in the Golden State and across the country.

Rudy has spent a lot of time and effort to burnish his conservative credentials on the campaign trail. He has tried to argue that his position on abortion represents a small area of disagreement in comparison to a wide range on agreement with conservatives, with middling success. Giuliani argues — and George Will supports him on this point — that Giuliani provided the most conservative government possible in New York City, and he’s almost certainly correct.

However, Rudy threatens to undermine that by hitching his wagon to the Governator.

Well, he is, as you say, trying to grab the center, while still casting himself as a conservative, albeit a ‘compassionate’ one.  Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t understand why such a ploy wouldn’t work very well, with either side of the isle?  He seems to be trying to latch onto the relative positioning held by President Bush… rather tenuous ground to be standing on in a Republican Primary, after 16 years of centerist Presidents leaning left at will.