Of greatest interest to social conservatives is Giuliani's pledge to
nominate only "strict constructionists" to the federal courts. Why would a
supporter of "choice" on abortion nominate judges likely to overturn Roe v.
Wade? "My view of a strict constructionist or originalist judge who sticks
with the plain meaning of the Constitution comes from my judicial
philosophy. It's not that I want one particular decision changed." He added
that originalists might have "different views on this" and that precedent
might trump even a wrongly decided case like Roe. Or, he said, the justices
could overturn it. He cited the Second Amendment case the Supreme Court
agreed to consider as a fine example of strict constructionism and noted
that Judge Laurence Silberman read "The Federalist Papers" and other
writings and speeches at the time the Bill of Rights was written to see what
the authors intended.
With Hillary Clinton's numbers declining in Iowa, according to the latest
USA Today/Gallup Poll (his are, too) does he have a Plan B in case Obama
wins the nomination? "It's the same plan," he said. "The electoral map is
roughly the same for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama." But this time, he
said, Republicans can't afford to allow the election to come down to one
state as occurred in 2000 (Florida) and 2004 (Ohio). He thinks he can
compete better in states that are close and even where Democrats are strong,
particularly in the Northeast and Midwest.
On personal matters, such as his three marriages, Giuliani says he should be
judged on his ability to do the job. He mentions that some of our greatest
presidents had personal failings. True, but let's see if he can sell that to
the "values voters." If Hillary Clinton is the nominee, he might. Possibly
less so if it's Obama.