In 1976, Ronald Reagan waged a historic battle against the Washington establishment, and against a creeping strain of totalitarianism that had been re-emerging in the Republican Party since Barry Goldwater defeated it in 1964. With 1,130 delegates needed to win the nomination, incumbent President Gerald Ford won 1,187 against Ronald Reagan’s 1,070.
In the same year, then-Governor Kit Bond lost his re-election campaign. He was dragged down by the electorate’s weariness with the party of corruption — the party of Gerald Ford, who Bond had endorsed over Ronald Reagan.
Apparently refusing to learn from history, now-Senator Kit Bond has picked a similar set of historical circumstances to endorse another losing candidate: Rudy Giuliani. Pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, anti-Second Amendment and former Democrat, the best one-liner Giuliani will be able to muster at next year’s endorsing convention in St. Paul will probably be to the effect of, “Are those elephant pictures on the wall? I thought this was the Democratic convention.”
He could even enhance his machismo if he got divorced for a third time, and, instead of having his wife call him in the middle of his acceptance address (as has happened to a half-dozen of his speeches so far), he could have a new girlfriend call him.
Not to be outdone, my own Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman endorsed Giuliani as well. "We have similar records — making cities safer, creating jobs, lowering taxes," Coleman said. They’ve undergone similar political transformations as well – Coleman chaired Bill Clinton and Al Gore’s Minnesota campaign in 1996.
That was before he ran as a Republican gubernatorial candidate against Jesse “The Body” Ventura in 1998. He proceeded to lose against the only candidate in the nation who showed up to debates in camouflage and hiking boots, and we’re still wondering how that happened.
Conveniently, I live in the same Congressional District as Coleman’s campaign manager, so I see him at a fair number of party functions. He’s a congenial person, and he makes you want to support the Senator. Unfortunately, his justifications come across as though he doesn’t understand the Senator himself. His response to an e-mail I sent regarding the endorsement: “We need everyone's support if we're going to win. Regardless of who our nominee is.”
That goes without saying. What I was really asking is why the Senator belongs to this party when he has more in common with Al Gore than with our platform, and why he doesn’t seem to want anyone’s support. (Not only is his political behavior capricious, he’s become significantly less personable since he went to Washington. People who get the chance to talk to him in small group settings have taken to calling him “Senator Shh,” because he’ll wave his hands around, bow his head, and start “shhing” people when he wants them to stop talking.)
Regardless, Bond and Coleman’s endorsements may not matter much as Giuliani’s campaign chairs seem to have a low shelf life. After Sen. David Vitter signed on to be his southern regional chair, he was found on the calling lists of the DC Madam. Thomas Ravenel, the chair in South Carolina, was just indicted on federal cocaine charges this past summer.
At the same time, the media consistently give Giuliani good numbers in polls that I won’t bother referencing. It would seem to suggest that a majority of party members share his morals.
Yet I have a hard time finding Republicans who actually support him. I would attribute this phenomenon to the “Valentine’s Day” wing of the party. Church-goers often talk about Easter and Christmas Christians, who only make it to church on those holidays. Similarly, the caucus system sees quite a few people who show up in February to vote, never to be seen or heard from again.
And that’s why they’re irrelevant. They can select the candidates, but very few of them will volunteer or contribute money. That’s why Giuliani has raised $47 million thus far to Obama’s $80 million and Hillary’s $90 million.
Giuliani might win the nomination by appealing to the Valentine’s Day voters, but he and his chairmen will need to get through the general election without anyone going out of their way to support them. That’s going to be difficult.
We shouldn’t be too worried, though. Dawn can only follow the night; we may not have much to hope for in the next election, but four more years of Washington corruption may be all that the nation needs before it will awaken to the need for another Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan. And that’s why my mantra through next November is going to be, “Four more years!”
Sources
1. Bond Endorses Giuliani: http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Nov/20071102News005.asp
2. Coleman Endorses Giuliani: http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_7342792
3. Giuliani Wife Calls: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/29/2007-09-29_giuliani_explains_why_he_took_wifes_call-2.html
4. Cocaine Chairman: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,284637,00.html
5. Fundraising Receipts: http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp