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Rudy Giuliani

2007-03-15T18:27:45Z

ThereIsNoGod:

'''Rudolph ("Rudy") Guiliani''' (born 1944) is the former two-term [[Republican]] mayor of New York City. He presided over the city when the [[9/11]] terrorist attack occurred. He is running for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2008.

Guiliani is [[liberal]] on social issues such as [[abortion]], gay rights and guns. In 1994 Guiliani made a highly public endorsement<ref>http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n22_v46/ai_15999869</ref> of Democrat [[Mario Cuomo]] in his reelection race for governor of New York against Republican [[George Pataki]], who won anyway.

Guiliani did attract some support by conservatives by emphasizing law-and-order as mayor, which included reducing crime in New York City. When U.S. Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] announced that he would retire in 2000, Guiliani raised millions of dollars from conservatives in an apparent attempt to defeat [[Hillary Clinton]] for that seat. But after Guiliani raised all that money, he declined to run and many have no idea what happened to their donations.

The National Catholic Register is advising Catholics not to vote for Rudy in 2008 because he is pro-choice. <ref>[http://ncregister.com/site/article/2017 No Deal Rudy]</ref>(See video here:<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALDfwXIYUX0 Rudy: "There must be public funding for abortion"]</ref> )<br>

Prior to becoming mayor of New York City, Guiliani served as a prosecutor for the [[Department of Justice]] in the 1980s. As U.S. Attorney, Guiliani presided over many high-profile arrests and prosecutions, many of them apparently publicity stunts. Acquittals in the Southern District of New York are very rare, but juries acquitted former Miss America Bess Myerson and former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos of charges brought by Guiliani.

In another display of publicity, Guiliani began prosecuting insider trading after an investigation by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] uncovered some illegality. Guiliani then arranged for two Wall Street brokers to be handcuffed, put up against the wall, and arrested at their offices. They were subjected to humiliating publicity, but were apparently innocent: no charges could even be brought against them.

New York's brave firefighters, heroes of 9/11, did not have kind words about Guiliani.<ref>[http://www.amny.com/search/ny-usrudy095122917mar09,0,4363175.story NY Firefighters slam Guiliani]</ref>

Guiliani helped arrange for the Republican National Convention to be in New York in 2004, where he often promoted himself before delegates at special events. But Guiliani's only contribution to the [[Bush Administration]] has been to persuade Bush to nominate Guiliani's friend [[Bernard Kerik]] as the head of [[Homeland Security]] after the 2004 election. Numerous scandals then surfaced about Kerik and he withdrew.

Guiliani's personal background is unlike most presidents. He avoided the Vietnam draft first by obtaining a deferment by attending law school, and then by obtaining a dubious "civilian occupation deferment" to serve as an allegedly essential employee -- which was merely as a law clerk for a judge. Guiliani has been married three times. His first marriage was to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi. They were married for 14 years, before Giuliani had their marriage annulled by the Catholic church. His divorce from his second wife to make it possible to marry another woman consumed enormous time and media attention from 2000 to 2002.

Giuliani is leading in most polling for the 2008 Republican nomination.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-192.html</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Politics]]

John McCain

2007-03-15T18:22:39Z

ThereIsNoGod:

'''John Sidney McCain III''' (born August 29, 1936) is the frontrunner to become the presidential nominee for the Republican Party in 2008, earned as a result being the runner-up in the last contested Republican presidential primary. Since at least 1976, the runner-up in the Republican primary has become the nominee in the next election cycle, as Republican primary voters respect seniority.

However, McCain may be weaker than prior front-runners. He skipped the first primary in Iowa in 2000 because he is weak there, and only did well in New Hampshire based on strong independent support. Those independents may flock to a more interesting Democratic primary in 2008. McCain is likely to be weak again in the following primary in South Carolina, where independents are not allowed to vote in the [[2008 Republican Primary]].

McCain is currently the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. He was a prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam and acquired wealth through his second marriage. He has curried favor with the media as an alternative to more conservative Republicans.

Notably, if McCain were to win the presidency in 2008, he would be the only President to be born on soil the United States has since relinquished to another government (the [[Panama Canal Zone]]). While this is a potential problem under a strict reading of [[Article II]] of the Constitution, McCain has spent very little time in the Zone and it is unthinkable that any residual attachment to "native soil" could override his loyalty to this country. Also, residency or region is probably not taken seriously as an obstacle to Presidential candidacies in this day and age -- see the article on [[Dick Cheney]].

==Political Record==
McCain's political record has been generally conservative, but he has alienated some conservatives on several important issues:

1. Immigration. In 2005-2006, McCain joined with liberal Senator Ted Kennedy to support a sweeping bill that reformed the tangled mass of immigration law, but in some ways was was favorable to illegal aliens. It has not passed.

2. Same-sex marriage. In 2006, McCain joined [[Democrat]]s and liberal Republicans in voting against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed constitutional amendment to forbid non-traditional marriage. Later, on ''Hardball'', McCain took a [[Libertarian]] position, "On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe that people want to have private ceremonies, that's fine."
McCain's home state of Arizona was the only state to defeat a marriage referendum (in 2006), as McCain did nothing to support it.

3. "Gang of 14". On May 23, 2005, McCain was part of a group of 14 Senators who blocked the planned "nuclear option" for confirming blocked Republican nominees for the bench. Under this compromise a few judicial nominees were allowed to be confirmed (Janice Rogers Brown, Priscilla Owen and William Pryor), but others (e.g., Henry Saad) remained blocked and had to withdraw.

4. Campaign finance. McCain advocated campaign finance reform, something opposed by many conservative on [[Libertarian]] grounds that it interferes with the right to free speech. In 2002, McCain joined with liberal Democrat Russell Feingold to prohibit independent groups from advertising about a candidate within many weeks of an election. This law prohibits ads that do not even recommend for whom to vote, but merely urge people to contact their representatives concerning a vote that the representatives will make in Congress. A court recently declared this unconstitutional. Further, the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law allows Indian nations (which get nearly all their money from unregulated casinos) to make unlimited political donations, even though political donations by American citizens are strictly limited and political spending by corporations is prohibited.

5. Torture. McCain opposed renewal of the [[Patriot act]] on the grounds that it endorses use of torture, something which he opposes based on his experience as a POW in Vietnam. While he eventually removed his opposition to the renewal of the act, he added language to the renewal act prohibiting torture, despite threat of a presidential veto if such language was added.This is consistent with over two hundred years of civilization since the Enlightenment. This position alienates many conservatives, who believe that torture is a tool that can and should be used against terrorists.

6. Tax cuts. McCain opposed President George W. Bush's tax cuts, on the argument that cutting taxes without also cutting spending was not actually a tax cut, but was a tax on future generations.

7. Criticism of the religious right. In his unsuccessful campaign in 2000, McCain criticized elements of the religious right in an attempt to attract voters.

8. Embryonic stem cell research. McCain supports embryonic stem cell research as a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

9. John McCain, like Gary Hart and John Tower before him, is at the complete mercy of the media. The media could destroy McCain's public reputation based on his role in the Keating Five scandal, and the media can be expected to do so in a general election.

10. An intangible, but a very important one, is the issue of trust. Many people, particularly evangelicals, do not trust McCain. That can be an insurmountable problem for a presidential candidate. However, recently, McCain has attempted to reach out to evangelical leaders to regain their trust. An example was his recent speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

11. In a general election, the media and the Democrats will likely make an issue about John McCain's health. He has suffered from recurring cancer (melanoma) and will be 72 years old on Election Day. Critics may view McCain as an easy Republican to defeat in a general election for this reason. Other Republicans have countered that McCain would be the same age as [[Ronald Reagan]] was when first elected.

12. John McCain is very close to President George W. Bush. Very close.<ref>[http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/stef406/mccain_bush-hug-713122.jpg McCain is close to Bush]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Biographies]]

John McCain

2007-03-15T18:20:41Z

ThereIsNoGod:

Rudy Giuliani

2007-03-15T18:15:02Z

ThereIsNoGod:

'''Rudolph ("Rudy") Guiliani''' (born 1944) is the former two-term [[Republican]] mayor of New York City. He presided over the city when the [[9/11]] terrorist attack occurred. He is running for the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2008.

Guiliani is [[liberal]] on social issues such as [[abortion]], gay rights and guns. In 1994 Guiliani made a highly public endorsement<ref>http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n22_v46/ai_15999869</ref> of Democrat [[Mario Cuomo]] in his reelection race for governor of New York against Republican [[George Pataki]], who won anyway.

Guiliani did attract some support by conservatives by emphasizing law-and-order as mayor, which included reducing crime in New York City. When U.S. Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] announced that he would retire in 2000, Guiliani raised millions of dollars from conservatives in an apparent attempt to defeat [[Hillary Clinton]] for that seat. But after Guiliani raised all that money, he declined to run and many have no idea what happened to their donations.

The National Catholic Register is advising Catholics not to vote for Rudy in 2008 because he is pro-choice. <ref>[http://ncregister.com/site/article/2017 No Deal Rudy]</ref>(See video here:<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALDfwXIYUX0 Rudy: "There must be public funding for abortion"]</ref> )<br>

Prior to becoming mayor of New York City, Guiliani served as a prosecutor for the [[Department of Justice]] in the 1980s. As U.S. Attorney, Guiliani presided over many high-profile arrests and prosecutions, many of them apparently publicity stunts. Acquittals in the Southern District of New York are very rare, but juries acquitted former Miss America Bess Myerson and former Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos of charges brought by Guiliani.

In another display of publicity, Guiliani began prosecuting insider trading after an investigation by the [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] uncovered some illegality. Guiliani then arranged for two Wall Street brokers to be handcuffed, put up against the wall, and arrested at their offices. They were subjected to humiliating publicity, but were apparently innocent: no charges could even be brought against them.

Guiliani helped arrange for the Republican National Convention to be in New York in 2004, where he often promoted himself before delegates at special events. But Guiliani's only contribution to the [[Bush Administration]] has been to persuade Bush to nominate Guiliani's friend [[Bernard Kerik]] as the head of [[Homeland Security]] after the 2004 election. Numerous scandals then surfaced about Kerik and he withdrew.

Guiliani's personal background is unlike most presidents. He avoided the Vietnam draft first by obtaining a deferment by attending law school, and then by obtaining a dubious "civilian occupation deferment" to serve as an allegedly essential employee -- which was merely as a law clerk for a judge. Guiliani has been married three times. His first marriage was to his second cousin, Regina Peruggi. They were married for 14 years, before Giuliani had their marriage annulled by the Catholic church. His divorce from his second wife to make it possible to marry another woman consumed enormous time and media attention from 2000 to 2002.

Giuliani is leading in most polling for the 2008 Republican nomination.<ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/republican_presidential_nomination-192.html</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Biographies]]
[[Category:Politics]]