News

Updates and News from Washington

July 24, 1998

Podhoretz on Giuliani in 2000

New York Post's John Podhoretz writes on WH 2000: "Why not Rudy Giuliani? The reasons to discount his chances as a presidential candidate are manifold. ...[But] lost in the negative assessment of his chances are the sorts of qualities Giuliani could bring to a national race. First, he is the most successful and effective politician in America right now, bar none. This isn't local boosterism talking. Any of the other people on [the WH hopefuls] list would die to be able to list Giuliani's accomplishments as their own. He oversaw a... 50 percent drop in crime in the city... [and] budgets that simultaneously cut taxes and currently shows a surplus. ...Secondly he is probably the best public speaker in the party. He can deliver a complex address without even glancing at a note.... Perhaps alone among contemporary politicians, he understands what it means to be a conservative reformer. His speeches and policies are based on an ethic of personal responsibility. ...Giuliani is one of the few conviction politicians left in the United States, and that's, ultimately, what he might be able to bring to a race for the presidency at a time when (perhaps) the country has grown tired of the twist-in-the-wind opportunism of Bill Clinton and his ilk. ...He has proven himself willing to take on unions, public-interest groups and the press in service of unpopular ideas that he makes popular by explaining them and trying to put them in practice. ...The [GOP] will benefit unambiguously from Rudolph Giuliani's presence for years to come" (7/24).

RNC Meeting Dust Up

Washington Times Ralph Hallow writes, "Social conservatives were conspicuously absent from the agenda" of the three-day RNC summer meeting. Scheduled speakers: NY Gov. George Pataki, NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and NJ Gov. Christie Whitman. RNC Chair Jim Nicholson added Center for the American Founding dir. Balint Vazsonyi to the schedule. RNC TX member Tim Lambert: "If you look at the speakers, they're all from the left wing of the party." Party officials say that the "centrist Northeastern tilt of the meeting agenda is partly because" NYC is now a leading contender as the site for the 2000 convention. "Some social conservative RNC members from the South, Midwest and West complained that only GOP officeholders who support abortion rights and homosexual rights are scheduled to address the meeting. Even some members who are more centrist on social issues grumbled that the GOP leadership in the [NE] is out of touch with [GOP] conservatives in the rest of the country" (7/24). Jim Nicholson 7/24 remarks to the RNC: "Clinton says he wants strangers to be able to take your daughter across state lines to get her an abortion -- without telling you. What is this man thinking" (release, 7/24). More RNC news -- header over release: "RNC Commits $5 million to 'Operation Break-Out'" (7/23 release).

Hefley Amendment Update

The latest word is that Commerce, Justice, State will reach the floor on Monday now. Hefley could be offered at any time. There has been a move by the leadership to add a popular measure on curbing the use of executive orders by the President (something even our friends widely support) to the Hefley Amendment in order to save it from defeat. But do not fear -- we are preparing our response and will work hard to counter every parliamentary maneuver they throw at us. Each delay in bringing the measure to the floor gives you ANOTHER CHANCE TO CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO! ON THE HEFLEY AMENDMENT!!

CALL YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TODAY AND TELL THEM TO VOTE NO!! We must deal James Dobson and the radical right a CRUSHING DEFEAT by REPUBLICANS VOTING NO ON HEFLEY.