Giuliani Tracker

Giuliani Cites Bible on Personal Life

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani compared the scrutiny of his personal life marked by three marriages to the biblical story of how Jesus dealt with an adulterous woman.

 

In an interview posted online Friday, Giuliani was questioned about his family and told the Christian Broadcasting Network, "I think there are some people that are very judgmental."

Giuliani has a daughter who indicated support for Democrat Barack Obama and a son who said he didn't speak to his father for some time. Giuliani's messy divorce from their mother, Donna Hanover, was waged publicly while Giuliani was mayor of New York.

"I'm guided very, very often about, `Don't judge others, lest you be judged,'" Giuliani told CBN interviewer David Brody. "I'm guided a lot by the story of the woman that was going to be stoned, and Jesus put the stones down and said, 'He that hasn't sinned, cast the first stone,' and everybody disappeared.

"It seems like nowadays in America, we have people that think they could've passed that test," he said. "And I don't think anybody could've passed that test but Jesus."

In the New Testament story, related in the Gospel of John, Jesus does not actually hold stones. The Pharisees bring Jesus a woman charged with adultery, reminding him the punishment for adultery is stoning. They are testing Jesus in an effort to charge him with breaking the law.

The Gospel reads: "But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, 'Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.'

"... And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders."

Giuliani has insisted his family relationships are private. In 1968, he married his cousin, Regina Peruggi. They divorced 14 years later, and Giuliani obtained an annulment from the Catholic Church on the grounds that as second cousins, they should have received a dispensation to marry.

Giuliani married Hanover in 1984 and they divorced in 2002. He has been married to Judith Nathan since 2003.

Likewise, he says his faith is private, although he evokes his Catholic upbringing on the campaign trail.

He told CBN he believes in God and prays to Jesus for guidance and help.

"I have very, very strong views on religion that come about from having wanted to be a priest when I was younger, having studied theology for four years in college," he said. "It's an area I know really, really well academically.

"... And my personal view of it is I need God's help for everything, and I probably feel that the most when I'm in crisis and under pressure, like Sept. 11, when I was dealing with prostate cancer, or (when) I'm trying to explain death to people, which unfortunately I've had to do so often.

"So it's a very, very important part of my life," he said. "But I think in a democracy and in a government like ours, my religion is my way of looking at God, and other people have other ways of doing it, and some people don't believe in God. I think that's unfortunate. I think their life would be a lot fuller if they did, but they have that right."

Giuliani also addressed a cell phone call he took from his wife, Judith, last week during his speech to the National Rifle Association, an important appearance because Giuliani clashed with the group when he argued for tougher gun control as mayor of New York.

"And quite honestly, since Sept. 11, most of the time when we get on a plane, we talk to each other and just reaffirm the fact that we love each other," he said.

"Sometimes if I'm in the middle of a very, very sensitive meeting, I don't take the call right then; I wait. But I thought it would be kind of nice if I took it at that point, and I'd done that before in engagements, and I didn't realize it would create any kind of controversy," he said.

Giuliani Campaign Distances Itself From $9.11 Fundraiser

A spokeswoman for Rudy Giuliani says it is unfortunate that a supporter throwing a party that aims to raise $9.11 per person for the Republican's presidential campaign is asking for that amount.

Abraham Sofaer is having a fundraiser at his Palo Alto, Calif., home on Wednesday, when Giuliani backers across the country are participating in the campaign's national house party night.

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Giuliani: I Support Right to Bear Arms

Republican Rudy Giuliani sought to reassure the National Rifle Association of his support for a constitutional right to bear arms as rivals Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee contended the former New York mayor is no friend of gun owners.

 

In a direct appeal Friday to the powerful lobbying group, Thompson, McCain and Huckabee stressed their backing for gun rights and record of siding with the NRA. Giuliani, who once referred to the NRA as "extremists," tried to explain his shifting views on the issue.

The NRA's support is prized as the group blankets its 4 million members with ads, mailings and phone calls. Before the 2008 election, it hopes to increase its numbers.

"I'd like us to respect each other; I think we have very, very legitimate and mostly similar views," Giuliani told NRA members, who clapped politely a dozen times during his 20-minute speech.

Giuliani also tried to explain why, as mayor, he joined a lawsuit by several cities against the gun industry, arguing that manufacturers and distributors made it too easy for criminals to get guns.

On Friday, he said the ongoing lawsuit "has taken several turns and several twists I don't agree with."

Giuliani, an outspoken proponent of gun control during his eight years as mayor, said Friday he agrees with a recent federal court ruling that overturned a 30-year-old ban on private ownership of handguns in Washington, D.C. He added that he would appoint judges who take a similarly strict view of the Constitution and the Second Amendment.

Despite Giuliani's changing views, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said: "All I know is, I liked what I heard today. It's a good thing, if a politician sees the light and supports the Second Amendment."

Thompson, McCain and Huckabee chose to highlight their record on gun rights in a veiled criticism of Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. In 1994, Romney supported the Brady gun control law and said he wouldn't be the hero of the NRA.

Romney became a lifetime member of the NRA in 2006. He addressed the group by video Friday.

"Let me speak very directly and candidly about where I stand: I support the Second Amendment as one of the most basic and fundamental rights of every American. It's essential to our functioning as a free society, as are all the liberties enumerated in the Bill of Rights," he said.

Thompson, who makes a point of visiting gun shops and gun shows in early voting states, received a warmer reception from the audience of about 500 people, some of whom stood and cheered when he said: "Our basic rights come from God, not from government."

Thompson recently indicated that he wouldn't talk about his faith on the campaign trail.

"It's not just a matter of promises made, as far as I'm concerned. It's a matter of commitments that have been kept," Thompson said.

McCain criticized Giuliani outright, citing the use of the word "extremists" in reference to the NRA.

"My friends, gun owners are not extremists; you are the core of modern America," the Arizona senator said. "The Second Amendment is unique in the world and at the core of our constitutional freedoms. It guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. To argue anything else is to reject the clear meaning of our founding fathers.

Anti-war protesters from the group Code Pink interrupted his speech and were escorted from the hotel ballroom.

Later, in Indianapolis, McCain was asked about Giuliani's remarks in support of gun rights.

"I know that he had a very different position when he was mayor of New York City. I have had the same position as a member of the House and the Senate for many years," McCain said.

The candidates spoke to the NRA as gun violence occurred on another college campus. Two students were shot and wounded, one seriously, at Delaware State University, and the campus was locked down as police searched for a gunman.

Such tragedies inevitably prompt politicians to argue over whether more or fewer gun restrictions would prevent gun crimes. Giuliani said he believes the best way to prevent such crimes is to enforce existing gun laws, not create new ones.

The former mayor said his views on gun rights were tempered by the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: "Sept. 11 casts somewhat of a different light on Second Amendment rights; it maybe highlights the necessity for them more," Giuliani said.

Giuliani sought to make the case for his candidacy by highlighting his front-runner status in national polls.

"You never get a candidate you agree with 100 percent -- I'm not sure I even agree with myself 100 percent," Giuliani said. "You have to figure out who's electable, who can win. Because if we make a mistake about that, this country is going to go in a direction that I think you and I very much disagree with."

Giuliani has said recently that what has worked in New York might not work elsewhere, a notion that Huckabee scoffed at.

The former Arkansas governor said it was "absurd, laughable, that we would have geographic boundaries on the tenets of the Second Amendment."

Giuliani's cell phone rang in the middle of his speech; he said it was his wife, Judith, and as the audience laughed, he answered it and had a brief conversation.

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On the Net:

National Rifle Association: http://www.nra.org

Giuliani Would Try to End Alternative Minimum Tax

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Friday that the alternative minimum tax -- which is expected to generate as much as $1 trillion over the next 10 years -- could be eliminated over the long term by balancing it out with even more tax cuts.

Giuliani's remarks prompted a bewildered response from his audience of technology executives. Both Republicans and Democrats said they assumed that the candidate must have misspoke as he responded to a question about the tax and its affect the middle class.

But a Giuliani spokeswoman said later that Giuliani meant what he said -- tax cuts could replace the lost revenue from the AMT by boosting the overall economy.

"Giuliani is the quintessential supply-sider," said spokeswoman Maria Comella.

The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was enacted in 1969 to ensure that a handful of wealthy taxpayers could not exploit a series of loopholes to avoid paying any income taxes.

But the tax was never indexed for inflation. It now applies to more than 4 million taxpayers and has been the target of tax reformers who say it will soon unfairly target middle-class taxpayers, if it hasn't already.

But eliminating the AMT would be extremely expensive, costing $100 billion in 2010 alone.

Giuliani told the 700-member audience of the Northern Virginia Technology Council that he wants to cap the tax, and perhaps eventually eliminate it altogether.

"Over time we can figure out how to eliminate it. ... If we were going to eliminate it, though, we'd have to balance it with additional tax cuts," Giuliani said, leaving confused expressions on his audience. "That might be by making the Bush tax cuts permanent."

He continued, saying he "wouldn't eliminate it until we had tax reform."

"I do think he may have misspoke," said Gerry Connolly, the Democratic chairman of Fairfax County's Board of Supervisors.

In other parts of his speech, Giuliani addressed the need to use technology to combat illegal immigration. He advocated a tamperproof national ID card to identify those who come into the country legally, and said sensors and other technology could create a "virtual fence" on the southern border to complement a physical fence used in other spots.

"We're only going to get legal immigration right when you end illegal immigration," Giuliani said.

Giuliani said an aggressive policy on illegal immigrants would allow the U.S. to accept more legal immigrants, including those with specific technology skills.

Giuliani Defends General Petraeus from Clinton, MoveOn.org

AKRON, Ohio (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani denounced Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday for challenging the Capitol Hill testimony of the top U.S. military commander in Iraq.

"Hillary Clinton, questioning Gen. (David) Petraeus, said you had to suspend disbelief," Giuliani said after a brief campaign stop at an Akron restaurant. "Why would you say that about an American general?"

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Clinton, a U.S. Sen. from New York, appeared skeptical Tuesday of the positive spin Petraeus put on improvements in Iraq, saying, "The reports that you provide to us really require the willing suspension of disbelief."

Giuliani said Petraeus was doing "the best that he can." He also criticized the liberal anti-war group MoveOn.org for running newspaper advertisements that asked "General Petraeus or General Betray Us?"

"I can't imagine why we can't get beyond maligning other people's motives nowadays in politics," said Giuliani, a former New York City mayor.

"There is no reason to do what MoveOn.org or Hillary Clinton have done -- which is to make personal attacks on the general."

Clinton campaign spokesman Isaac Baker responded: "Mayor Giuliani may be content to bury his head in the sand when it comes to ending the war in Iraq, but Sen. Clinton will continue to ask the hard questions in an effort to get our troops home."

Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, responded to Republican criticisms of the ad with a statement: "We stand by our ad -- every major independent study and many major news organizations cast serious doubt on Petraeus' claims."

Giuliani also had a private fundraising event arranged in Akron but no details were disclosed by his campaign staff.

He arrived in Ohio -- expected to again be a key political battleground in 2008 after clinching President Bush's 2004 re-election -- following a fundraiser earlier in the day in Morgantown, W.Va. He was to travel to Canonsburg, Pa., and Bluffton, S.C., after the Akron stop.

Giuliani spent about 20 minutes greeting luncheon patrons at the restaurant, shaking hands, signing autographs and posing for snapshots. He talked of remaining on offense against Islamic terrorists.

"I think withdrawal, appeasement, the kind of thing the Democratic candidates have been doing, is not the right way to deal with Islamic terrorism," he said.

Mike Tople, 29, a volunteer firefighter from nearby Sharon Township, had the candidate autograph a uniform patch. Beyond Giuliani's reputation for leading New York City after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Tople said he thinks of Giuliani as a moral person. "I like him as a man," Tople said.

Another luncheon guest, Wallace Chambers Jr., 41, who works at the Akron health department laboratory, said he is a Democrat but would wait to see the positions of both party nominees before deciding.

"There needs to be a change (from the Bush administration)," he said. "We'll just have to listen and see and compare ideas."

In a new Quinnipiac University poll, Giuliani led among Republicans surveyed in Florida with 28 percent. Fred Thompson had 17 percent, Mitt Romney 11 percent, John McCain 10 percent and Newt Gingrich 6 percent.

The poll was conducted between Sept. 3-9 and involved random telephone interviews with 1,141 Florida voters. It had an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Giuliani Throws First Pitch at Rangers-A's Game

Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani threw the first pitch at the Texas Rangers-Oakland A's game Saturday after a rally at Rangers Ballpark, where he responded to questions about terrorism and immigration.

 

Just days before the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the former New York City mayor said he's disappointed Osama bin Laden hadn't been apprehended.

"It should be an important objective. It is not just symbolic," Giuliani said of catching the al-Qaida leader. "The mere fact that he's still there inspires some of our enemies."

In a new 26-minute video, bin Laden compares the Iraq war to Vietnam, criticizes the Democratic Party for failing to prompt a U.S. pullout from Iraq and encourages Americans to welcome Islam.

Giuliani also reiterated his position that illegal immigration can be stopped at the border by deploying more agents, building a fence and adding more technology, such as motion sensors.

Before speaking with supporters and posing with them for photographs during the rally, Giuliani took about 25 swings in the batting cage with Rangers first baseman Brad Wilkerson's bat while wearing a tie and long-sleeved dress shirt. The move was at the suggestion of Rangers owner Tom Hicks, who said he is Giuliani's Texas campaign chairman.

"We've raised a lot of money, more money than any other state except New York," said Hicks. He has a lot of friends here. He's a crisis manager. I'll do all I can to help him get elected."