Texas Governor Backs Giuliani

AUSTIN _ Gov. Rick Perry’s endorsement of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in next year’s presidential race on Wednesday mystified some conservative activists and had one Republican statewide officeholder humorously questioning whether the governor had committed an act of treason.

“Texans supporting the mayor of New York City? Get a rope,” quipped state Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, a staunch backer of former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, recent entry into the GOP fray. “Why would the most conservative governor in Texas history endorse a pro-choice, rabidly anti-Second Amendment, former New York City mayor who supported Democrat Mario Cuomo over Republican George Pataki for governor of New York?”

But Perry, the two-term Texas governor who appeared with Giuliani in Washington, D.C., and in Iowa after formally endorsing Giuliani on Wednesday morning, said he is confident that the New Yorker will uphold the principles important to Lone Star State conservatives.

“The mayor knows how to lead, he knows how to get results, and he knows how to win,” Perry told Texas reporters during a telephone news conference with Giuliani from Washington, D.C. Perry also said that he received assurances from Giuliani that as president he would appoint judges to the federal bench would take a “strict constructionist” view of the Constitution, which is conservative code for not expanding abortion rights.

Perry also acknowledged that he and Giuliani differ on the question of whether women should be free to terminate a pregnancy. And Giuliani, for his part, acknowledged that his views on gun control are not in line with those of Perry. “I support the Second Amendment,” Giuliani said. “It gives you the right to bear and carry arms.” But he said he would not support a national law to give citizens the right to carry concealed handguns because such matters should be decided by the individual states, and in some cases by individual local governments.

Giuliani has also supported civil unions for gay couples; Perry campaigned to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage in Texas.

Cathie Adams, who heads the conservative Texas Eagle Forum, said is disappointed in Perry for helping Giuliani attempt to repackage himself as a conservative, but she’s not buying it.

“The man is a darn good salesman. He’s a New Yorker for God’s sake,” Adams said. “But on the life issue, the homosexual issue and on the gun issue, he is not a conservative.”

Will Lutz, editor of the conservative newsletter, “The Lone Star Report”, said Perry has been burning his political capital with the Texas Republican Party base at an alarming rate over the past year.

“I think conservatives in this state have been growing increasingly disenchanted with Perry ever since his re-election in 2006,” Lutz said, citing the governor’s order earlier this year that grade-school girls be vaccinated for the sexually transmitted disease that causes some forms of cervical cancer and for his ongoing push for new toll roads.

“I think his endorsement of Giuliani only raises further suspicion among conservatives.,” Lutz added.

Perry, however, said he was swayed by the leadership provided by Giuliani as mayor of New York, which saw a reduction of government spending and a lowering of the crime rate under his stewardship. He also said that Giuliani’s leadership in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the city positions him for the role of commander in chief during wartime.

The perceived ability to defeat Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton appeared to trump all other considerations in Perry’s decision. Perry said there was a “vast chasm of difference” between the outlooks of Clinton and Giuliani.

Although Perry insisted that he was not interested in joining the 2008 ticket as Giuliani’s running mate, a veteran Austin political watcher said the governor appears to be positioning himself for a career outside of Texas.

“Every true politician looks for opportunities to raise his profile, and Perry is a true politician,” said Bruce Buchanan, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

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(c) 2007, Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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