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Huckabee: I will Not Use the H-Word on Rudy

Controversy continues to bubble up around GOP presidential contender Mike Huckabee over his belief that legalized abortion constitutes a modern day “holocaust.”

Huckabee was asked about it by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer yesterday, and confirmed that, from his perspective, Roe v. Wade has wrought a modern day “holocaust.”

That, in and of itself, is something of a yawn by now, but we were amused here at Forward by Blitzer’s awkward attempt to get Huckabee to accuse Giuliani – who has long taken flack on the right for his pro-choice views – of therefore supporting a “holocaust.”

Huckabee didn’t take the bait. As I explore in a story I put up today, the whole focus on the former Arkansas governor’s beliefs about abortion is something of a red herring. It suggests Huckabee is a card-carrying member of the old Christian right, when he’s in reality part of a new breed of evangelicals who are more interested in reaching out to mainstream America.

Here’s the exchange between Blitzer and Huckabee:

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Underneath Support For Rudy, Questions

While Rudy may be taking a hit today for his turn coat support of the Bo-Sox, JTA’s Beth Young has a story that reviews his continued favored status among board members of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

According to Young, RJC’s lay leaders have contributed $58,750 to Giuliani, compared to $35,900 for McCain and $31,200 for Romney. (Everyone else is batting $0.)

At the RJC convention in DC, Rudy was definitely the crowd favorite, with a hawkish address that mentioned Ronald Reagan at every turn (Bush who??). But a number of attendees in the crowd told me Rudy was their favored candidate partially because they thought he had the best chance of winning, while they still had love for and/or interest in McCain, Romney and Thompson. Several told me they worried Rudy would never win over the Republican base, or that he would eventually be undone by his “bull in a china shop” persona.

It’s no suprise that the former New York City mayor is ahead with Jewish donors. The open question is if he is igniting enough passion in the GOP to actually win in the primaries and on Election Day.

For Giuliani, Insults from Carter Sound a Lot Like Praise

The Giuliani campaign is clearly reveling in being attacked by none other than Jimmy Carter on CNN last night. Carter – proving once again that he has zero intention of going quietly into the night – called Giuliani “foolish” for his contention the United States should be open to using force against Iran.

By this morning the Giuliani campaign was emailing around choice snippets from Carter’s interview with Wolf Blitzer, under the subject hearing, “In Case You Were Weren’t Clear That Rudy Is The Right Man To Keep Us On Offense In The Terrorists War On Us.”

Clearly, Carter’s barbs (like when he said the GOP contenders are “competing with each other to appeal to the ultra-right-wing, war-mongering element in our country,”) are only music to the ears of the GOP field. Carter acknowledged as much when he declined to tell Blitzer which Republican he fears the most.

“If I condemn one of them, it might escalate him to the top position in the Republican ranks,” Carter said.

As much as the Republicans love (to hate) Carter, the Democratic frontrunners are clearly going to spend the race hating (having to pretend to not hate) him.

Carter told CNN he disagreed with positions taken by Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have declined to promise to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq over the following four years if elected president next year.

Given the influence of the Israel lobby — the most powerful in the country, according to Carter — he is not convinced that another president would be willing to do what he considers necessary to bring peace to Israel-Palestine.

“Can the next president say that Palestinian rights need to be protected?” he asked. “Can the next president say that settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to peace? I don’t know.”

With a new, new book out – “Beyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease and Building Hope” (Simon & Schuster) – Carter is, by his own admission, on another book tour that feels “like being on the campaign trail.”

The question, down the road, is how will his potential criticism of Clinton and Obama play? It may make them seem trustworthy and mainstream to average Americans, but it may also help galvanize critics in the Democratic base.

Who’s Up, Who’s Down: Foreign Policy on the Campaign Trail

Everywhere we turned this week, presidential contenders were working to score public relations points with posturing on foreign policy.

Here’s the quick summary, along with some verdicts about whether they came out ahead or behind in the image game:

Barack Obama was branded as “irresponsible” by Pakistan’s foreign minister after saying that, as president, he might unilaterally decide to send troops to combat terrorism there. A week ago, the Illinois senator was fighting off bad foreign policy PR after announcing, at the CNN/You Tube debate, that he would commit to diplomatic meetings with the leaders of Iran and other rogue states. Which is it – too hard or too soft? Verdict: DOWN.

Mitt Romney cites Hezbollah as a model for “health diplomacy.” Point well taken, but still. Verdict: DOWN.

The GOP contenders – minus Iraq stalwart John McCain – begin to distance themselves from Bush on the war. Will they open themselves up to flip-flopping charges down the road? Clearly, they’re willing to risk it. Verdict: UP.

John Edwards gets out from under Clinton-Obama by talking tough against the Saudi arms deal. Verdict: UP.

In Case You Missed It, Feel More than Free to Call Rudy a Hawk

I have a story up this week about the prominent neocons tapped by presidential contender Rudy Giuliani as foreign policy advisers.

In case you had any doubt, our headline – “Giuliani Stacks Campaign Staff With a Who’s Who Of Mideast Hawks” – is just the message Team Rudy is looking to send. On Wednesday night, the campaign sent out an email to supporters, titled “In Case You Missed It,” with the story.

But I wonder why the story wasn’t also posted on the “In Case You Missed It” section on the campaign’s website. Was it an oversight? Is it possible that Team Rudy wants certain members of the general public to miss the “In Case You Missed It” about Rudy being a Mideast Hawk?

Is there something I’m missing?

Here’s the email:

In Case You Missed It

Giuliani Stacks Campaign Staff With A Who’s Who Of Mideast Hawks The Forward

July 18, 2007 By Jennifer Siegel

[R]udolph Giuliani is taking steps to claim his place as the field’s leading hawk.

The former New York City mayor announced last week that he had assembled a team of foreign policy advisers featuring several prominent neoconservatives, including one of the movement’s founders, Norman Podhoretz. In addition to being an unwavering supporter of the war against Iraq, Podhoretz, a former editor of Commentary magazine, has grabbed headlines in recent months as one of most vocal proponents of American military action against Iran.

The eight-member advisory panel also includes several figures with experience in Israeli affairs. Giuliani’s chief foreign policy adviser, Charles Hill, served as a top aide to Secretary of State George Shultz in the Reagan administration and once served as political counselor to the American Embassy in Tel Aviv. The team also includes Martin Kramer, who is an expert on Islam at Harvard University and a fellow with both the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center.

These selections show Giuliani is “very serious about his approach to ensuring the security and safety of Israel,” said Ben Chouake, head of the pro-Israel political action committee Norpac. …

In recent months, Podhoretz has written and spoken out forcefully against the Iranian regime …

Jason Epstein, a political consultant backing Giuliani, said he viewed the selections as very consistent with Giuliani’s longstanding activism on foreign policy …

To read the entire article, please visit: http://www.forward.com/articles/11195/

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