Giuliani will have an opportunity to appeal directly to social conservatives at the Values Voter Summit on October 20 in Washington. The other Republican presidential candidates are speaking there as well, but Giuliani's appearance is the one most likely to affect the presidential race. He will be introduced at the event by Jonathan Falwell, son of the late Jerry Falwell, and there's a way he could assuage social conservatives and potentially minimize defections to a third party candidate--without reversing his pro-choice position. He would have to say something like this:
I fully accept the fact that the Republican party is a pro-life party. And though my personal view is different, I will make no effort whatsoever to change the party's stance and I will oppose any attempt by others to do so. If elected president, I pledge to do nothing--either by executive order or by signing legislation--that would increase the number of abortions in America or make abortions easier to obtain. And I will speak out as president to discourage anyone from having an abortion. I further pledge that if reasonable legislation reaches my desk to reduce the number of abortions, I will sign the legislation or let it become law without my signature. And my administration will defend that legislation in the courts if necessary.
When I asked Giuliani last week about the elements of such a statement, he seemed receptive. Abortions declined in New York when he was mayor, and he suggested the same might happen nationally during a Giuliani presidency. And
should Congress pass a bill repealing the Hyde amendment, he said he would veto it.
Perkins says such a statement would "help" to ease anti-Giuliani feeling among social conservatives. Bauer says it would be "a major step." While Land acknowledges that Giuliani "could minimize the damage with statements like that," he says that, as a matter of conscience, he still couldn't vote for Giuliani.
If Hillary Clinton is the Democratic nominee against Giuliani, that will create a dilemma for social conservatives--but not as much of one as the Giuliani camp might think. Social conservatives won't vote for Clinton, who they see as intensely pro-abortion. "ABC, anybody but Clinton, is not enough to attract social conservatives" to vote for Giuliani, Perkins insists.
This is particularly true of young evangelical Christians. They tend to be independents who vote for Republican candidates because they're anti-abortion. A pro-choice Republican would have little appeal to them, even as the lesser of two evils. "It's not enough to scare them with Hillary," says Bauer.
Giuliani told me that he and social conservatives "have the same goal in mind, a society with no abortions. We have a difference on how to get there." Indeed, there is a difference, and that's the core of the problem confronting Giuliani.
Fred Barnes is the executive editor of THE WEEKLY STANDARD.
|
