Black Box Report

Latinos? Ningunas gracias. Blacks? No way, baby. Values Voters? That's so 2004. Homosexuals.......OK, there was never any way they were going to that one...But the NRA? Now there's a group they can pander to!

...Except for one candidate, who faced a decidedly cynical crowd, and was lucky to get the polite golf clap.

Giuliani has supported abortion rights, gay rights, illegal immigration, stem-cell research, and condemned the NRA while supporting gun control. One of these is bound to be a problem.

Yes, Rudy's compareded the NRA to "extremists", and called the lawsuit he filed seven years ago aimed at punishing the nation’s gun manufacturers for violent crimes involving firearms “an aggressive step towards restoring accountability to an industry that profits from the suffering of others.” But that's all water under the bridge, right guys? Rudy was determined to win over this...

(*ring* *ring*....*ring* *ring*)

Oops. Sorry. Have to take this call:

So Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani was in the middle of an important speech to an audience that was a little skeptical to say the least, the National Rifle Association, many of whose members have some problems with the former New York City mayor's past support for gun control.

He had reached the part where he was talking about the importance of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, the part of his speech this particular crowd really wanted to hear him speak about. Then his cell phone rang.

"Let's see now. This is my wife calling, I think," says Giuliani reaching for the phone in his pocket. He then goes on to do something unheard of for a candidate to do while giving an important speech. He answers the phone.

Well, that ought to convince them he takes them seriously. And when Rudy wasn't chatting with his wife during his own speech, he came off sounding like the kind of big government politician gun owners tend to mistrust:

The more you read between the lines, the more Rudy Giuliani sounds like a big government conservative and the closest thing in this race to W …

Glossing over the less appealing line items on his gun control resume, ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani presented himself as sympathetic to the aims of the National Rifle Association and pledged, as president, to protect gun rights.

“Your right to bear arms is based on a reasonable degree of safety,” he said.

So much for the second amendment, that bit about “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Rather, America’s Mayor seems to be saying, “You can play with these as long as you behave. But I’ll be watching.” Ouch. Don’t forget, he’s TRYING to win over the NRA. He’s expressing (trying, actually) his belief in personal freedom! He’s not wrong, but it is telling that he can’t or won’t just express a simple belief in personal freedom. He’s saying “I’ll ALLOW you to do this” instead of “What right do I have to stop you?”.

Giuliani says that 9/11 - as the catalyst and wellspring of everything Rudy - made him a convert to the gun issue. Obviously not everyone there bought Rudy's new position, but it's interesting to see the lengths to which some Rudy supporters will bend over backwards to insist that this is not an empty pander or blatant flip-flop.

If one does not hold a position from birth, some fanatics reject any attempt to change one’s mind. This makes conversion impossible. And if no one is ever allowed to change his mind ever, what is the sense in ever having a debate?...

Rudy could be having an election-year conversion...

This goes beyond the gun issue. It goes to the heart of politics: Can a politician change his mind? Is evolution permissible?

I don’t mean flip-flopping. When John Kerry said he actually voted for the $87 billion before he voted against it, he was too clever by half.

So, you see, Democrats who hold a certain position, gain new insight or information, and then take a contrary position: flip-flopping. A Republican who does the same thing: their position has evolved. They've been converted.

Praise god and pass the ammo!

But whether or not Rudy's claim to have evolved on the gun issue gets him off the hook, at least he tried. Which is more than you can say for another candidate whose position on guns has evolved been converted flip-flopped:

At the very least, Mr. Giuliani is likely to get credit from N.R.A. members for actually showing up. Mitt Romney, another candidate who has faced Johnny-come-lately accusations from gun rights advocates...address(ed) the group via videotape.

Be vewy vewy quiet, Mitt's hunting varmints.