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CHRISTIAN GOP FAITHFUL DOUBT GUILIANI CANDIDANCY
By Joe Gentile
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Oct. 11 – Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is the front-runner among Republicans according to public opinion polling for the presidential election, invigorating his base. So much that evangelical Christians, a group representing one third of the Republican party, are floating the idea of a third-party campaign against him.
On September 29, more than 40 Christian conservatives attended a conference in Salt Lake City for the Council for National Policy. There, they discussed the possibility of backing an independent candidate if Giuliani, a supporter of abortion and gay rights, clinches the GOP nomination according to The Associated Press.
Founded by the author of the Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye, in 1981, the Council for National Policy is an umbrella organization for socially-conservative activists. Or, as described by The New York Times, it is the "little-known group of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country."
Leaders in attendance at the summit included James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and Vice President Dick Cheney. However, despite their ambition, participants remained realistic about the long-shot of a third-party candidate getting elected to the White House.
Dobson, according to spokesperson Gary Schneeberger for Focus on the Family Action, publicly disagreed with the idea of a third-party campaign, despite the possibility that both major political parties might be nominating leaders that tend liberal on social issues.
Still, Dobson is not about to endorse Giuliani should he be nominated, calling him an “unapologetic supporter of abortion on demand.”
Richard A. Viguerie, a longtime conservative activist, expressed a similar opinion at the conference last week, saying that the Council for National Policy is making tentative arrangements for future meetings. Even though he did not reveal any other participants, Viguerie asserted that President Bush “would not have been elected in ’04 without the people in that room.”
“Conservatives have been treated like a mistress as long as any of us can remember,'' Viguerie said. ''They'll [Republicans] have lots of private meetings with us, tell us how much they appreciate it and how much they value us, but if you see me on the street please don't speak with me.''
Yet, many political analysts believe a third-party bid would have a chilling effect on the Republican Party. Not only might it split the electorate in half, thus paving the way to victory for the Democratic candidate, it also might not attract any support.
Presently, many of the Grand Old Party faithful are attracted to Giuliani, despite his record on abortion, because they are more concerned about other issues, such as the war in Iraq, or the perception that he’s the most electable in the field. But, for many in the evangelical Christian community, he is the lesser of two evils if the Democrats nominate Hillary Clinton as their candidate.
Gary L. Bauer, a Christian political activist, telephoned the Council for National Policy last week, urging them to reconsider. “I can’t think of a bigger disaster for social conservatives, defense conservatives and economic conservatives than Hillary Clinton in the White House,” Bauer said to the AP.
He later added, “But I do believe there are certain core issues for the Republican Party — low taxes, strong defense and pro-life — and if we nominate someone who is hostile on one of those three things it will blow up the GOP.”
''I'm working on one party right now -- the Republican Party,'' said Giuliani about any prospective third-party challenger to an AP reporter.
''I believe we are reaching out very, very well to Republicans. The emphasis is on fiscal conservatism, which brings Republicans together,'' Giuliani said.
“It would probably be ill-advised,” commented Marist College adjunct instructor John Daniels about evangelical Christians endorsing a third-party candidate in his American National Government lecture.
“In 1912, when Teddy Roosevelt founded the Bull Moose Party and campaigned against the Republican incumbent, President Howard Taft, he essentially opened the door to the Oval Office for Democrat Woodrow Wilson,” Daniels said.
Still, this hasn’t deterred evangelical Christian leaders who, despite the odds, are reacting against the GOP leadership they claim assume their vote is guaranteed.
“If any party does not get the votes they are counting on, they are
going to be hurt in the election,” said junior Joseph DeLisle, Chairman of the Marist College Republicans, via e-mail about the impact evangelical Christians have on Republican party policy. “This is why parties need to be careful not to take people for granted that continually vote for them,” he said.“The club would support Mr. Giuliani upon a confirmation vote,” added DeLisle. “But, that does not mean that every person in the club would support Mr. Giuliani.”