“….So let me say at this at outset of my remarks.  I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. [applause][cheers] And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine. [cheers][applause]….” – then Senator Barack Obama (D), Independence, Missouri – June 30, 2008

Via Twitter, from Representative Steve Cohen (D):

Steve Cohen@RepCohen

Rudy Giuliani questioned how much,or even if, President Obama loves America.Maybe he thinks he loves it 3/5 as much as Giuliani & his pals 9:00 AM – 20 Feb 2015

Rudy Giuliani (r) and his pals probably don’t get it.

Previously:

Barack Obama in Independence, MO: the speech transcript (July 2, 2008)

Iowa – full circle, of sorts (July 11, 2012)

I’m getting this really strong urge to crossover in the February 5th presidential primary and vote for Rudy Giuliani. Something tells me that I should.

New York Daily News, October 12, 2007

Bernard Kerik’s legal nightmare is about to get worse, with federal prosecutors expected to file charges against the former police commissioner that will likely include allegations of bribery, tax fraud and obstruction of justice, the Daily News has learned….

….Giuliani has extensive ties to Kerik, promoting him to correction commissioner, then to police commissioner. Giuliani later also hired him at his firm, Giuliani Partners, and recommended him to President Bush for the job of Homeland Security secretary.

Past associations could haunt Giuliani, March 26, 2007

….Kerik’s close association with Giuliani became radioactive when Kerik pleaded guilty last June to a misdemeanor of accepting a gift from a company seeking city work.

Kerik acknowledged accepting $165,000 in renovations on his Bronx apartment from a company attempting to land city contracts. But he never explicitly admitted that his efforts on behalf of the company were tied to the work on his home….

Giuliani Testified He Was Briefed on Kerik in ’00, March 30, 2007

Rudolph W. Giuliani told a grand jury that his former chief investigator remembered having briefed him on some aspects of Bernard B. Kerik’s relationship with a company suspected of ties to organized crime before Mr. Kerik’s appointment as New York City police commissioner, according to court records.

Mr. Giuliani, testifying last year under oath before a Bronx grand jury investigating Mr. Kerik, said he had no memory of the briefing, but he did not dispute that it had taken place, according to a transcript of his testimony.

Mr. Giuliani’s testimony amounts to a significantly new version of what information was probably before him in the summer of 2000 as he was debating Mr. Kerik’s appointment as the city’s top law enforcement officer. Mr. Giuliani had previously said that he had never been told of Mr. Kerik’s entanglement with the company before promoting him to the police job or later supporting his failed bid to be the nation’s homeland security secretary….

And that’s why Rudy recommended Kerik to dubya for Secretary of Homeland Security. It all makes sense. Cronyism for idiots.

Right now, Rudy Giuliani is riding high in the saddle. He leads the Republican field in national polling, he just raised the most cash of any Republican in the third quarter (he was just in Clayton, MO for a $1,000/plate shindig), and he does best among his rivals in head-to-head matchups with Democratic candidates. But all is not well in Rudyland.

For starters, Christian conservatives on a national level are threatening to split with the Republican Party if the GOP nominates a candidate insufficiently committed to “family values.” Focus on the Family head James Dobson explicitly stated this in a New York Times op-ed piece:

Reports have surfaced in the press about a meeting that occurred last Saturday in Salt Lake City involving more than 50 pro-family leaders. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss our response if both the Democratic and Republican Parties nominate standard-bearers who are supportive of abortion[…]After two hours of deliberation, we voted on a resolution that can be summarized as follows: If neither of the two major political parties nominates an individual who pledges himself or herself to the sanctity of human life, we will join others in voting for a minor-party candidate. Those agreeing with the proposition were invited to stand. The result was almost unanimous. [emphasis mine]

Dobson also rejected electability arguments for candidates like Rudy:

The other approach, which I find problematic, is to choose a candidate according to the likelihood of electoral success or failure. Polls don’t measure right and wrong; voting according to the possibility of winning or losing can lead directly to the compromise of one’s principles.

On a local level, St. Louis’ Archbishop Raymond Burke is reprising his role from 2004. Instead of pointing his finger at the Democrats, this time he’s aiming at Giuliani. Asked whether he would deny Communion to Giuliani if the former NY mayor attended Mass in the Basilica, Burke replied, “If the question is about a Catholic who is publicly espousing positions contrary to the moral law and I know that person knows it, yes I would.” (DHinMI has a fascinating look at this topic on Daily Kos.)
 

So what does all of this mean for Missouri?

A recent SurveyUSA poll shows Rudy Giuliani as the Republican candidate most likely to take Missouri in the general election. Even then, he only edges Clinton (48-45), while Obama bests him narrowly (46-44) and Edwards wins handily (48-42). Among anti-abortion voters (half of all voters in Missouri), Giuliani is also the strongest Republican in all head-to-heads, except when facing Obama – Fred Thompson has a slightly better margin there. But this is from polling done right now, before a bruising GOP primary makes pro-lifers well aware that Giuliani is not a candidate likely to toe the anti-abortion line. Remember that Bush beat Kerry in Missouri 52-47 while carrying the anti-abortion vote 73-26. GOPers need them to have a prayer (no pun intended) at carrying the state.

So what happens when Dobson & Co. announce that they’re sitting this one out? What happens when papers around the state carry headlines about Archbishop Burke’s condemnation of Giuliani’s position on abortion? Conversely, you can imagine that Giuliani might be able to find some sort of compromise with social conservatives, but he won’t be able to practice Bush’s dog whistle politics to do so – he’ll need grander gestures that could peel off moderates to the Democratic side. As a bonus, Giuliani’s problems with the base would hurt Republican candidates down the ticket in Missouri, especially if he actually campaigns with them.

And this is the strongest Republican candidate in Missouri. So fear not, fellow Missourians, we have a good chance at winning back the state in the Electoral College, the governorship, the lieutenant governorship, and at gaining a majority in the congressional delegation. We even have an outside shot at winning a majority in the state legislature!

In a column in yesterday’s KC Star, Barbara Shelly starts off well in her headline, “Wouldn’t it be great to a have Republican Party that embraced the center?” Gee, Barbara, that would be great. She finishes strong too:

Still, it’s been a good week. So good that I find myself imagining that, just maybe, the Kansas Legislature will spend more time in its next session discussing energy policy than late-term abortion …

… and that Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt will stop trying to roil his conservative base by inventing fears about “activist” judges…

… and that Missouri lawmakers will cease obsessing over potential embryos in lab dishes and start fixing the state’s fraying public universities…

… and that Jeff Roe, the local master of base-driven politics, will join Karl Rove on an extended hunting trip.

Freeze those visions as a delectable reminder of what could be.

Yes!!! I’m right there with you, Barbara. It’s what you wrote in between that scares me. More below the flip.

After an auspicious start with the headline, Shelly takes a hard right turn.

Goodbye Karl Rove.
Hello Rudy Giuliani.

Freeze this moment. The national Republican Party is suddenly looking good to me.

Rove is leaving Washington for Texas, having abandoned his bold dream of a permanent Republican majority anchored by its conservative base.

Giuliani, a centrist candidate, is sitting atop the party’s nationwide opinion polls.

Rudy Giuliani is a centrist? It’s a testament to how far right the conservative noise machine has moved the discourse in this country that Giuliani could be considered a centrist. Let’s forget his incompetence, typified by locating his emergency response HQ in a well-known terrorist target, the World Trade Center. Let’s also set aside his personal troubles, such as letting his wife know about their divorce from an interview in the New York Times. Let’s look at his actual policy positions.

On Iraq, Giuliani says that invading Iraq was “absolutely the right thing to do.” He could also support a further escalation in Iraq above and beyond the additional troops that Bush already sent in. On torture, he says, “Whatever methods they can think of.” On foreign policy, Giuliani submits a vision called “Toward a Realistic Peace” that is neither realistic nor peaceful. Even on abortion, where Giuliani is supposedly moderate, he supports the Hyde Amendment and would appoint the right kind of activist judges.

Barbara, when you say that you wish you that the legislature would pay more attention to the state’s well-being than to the whims of religious conservatives, I’m right there with you. But when you call a man a centrist who proclaimed proudly, “Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do,” I fear for our country.