For those on the left, it is a dubious distinction. But maybe it will help on the right.
In a rare television interview to be aired tonight on Bloomberg TV, former Attorney General John Ashcroft gave his implied support to Rudy Giuliani (pictured together, above, in 2002).
The nod comes a week after the anti-abortion Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), who served alongside Ashcroft when he was a U.S. senator from Missouri, endorsed Giuliani, saying the former mayor's vow to appoint "strict constructionist judges" won him over. That, of course, is taken as code by many on the right and left for anti-abortion judges.
In the interview, Bloomberg's Peter Cook asks the social conservative Ashcroft if he could support Giuliani. Ashcroft replied, "I’d support a president who would nominate to the bench conservative judges. ... And I believe the Republican candidates that are offering themselves will pledge themselves to do that. Those are the kinds of people I can support."
Giuliani, of course, has made the appointment of such judges a centerpiece of his pitch to conservatives on abortion, gay rights and gun control.
Read below for the Q and A.
Tom Brune
MR. COOK: Final question, if I could. Politics – you backing anyone in 2008?
MR. ASHCROFT: I’m certainly going to back the Republican candidate. I think that there’s quite a bit of fluidity in the race right now. But from my perspective, I see that the crop of folks on the Republican side are offering realistic promise for the future.
MR. COOK: Let me follow up, one quick question there. You were a strong conservative in the Senate and throughout your elected career – anti-abortion, on social conservative issues, you’ve been very outspoken. Could you support Rudy Giuliani as the GOP nominee?
MR. ASHCROFT: I’d support a president who would nominate to the bench conservative judges. And by that I mean judges who don’t want to amend the Constitution by their own acts, but understand that the Constitution has a means for amendment if it is to be amended. And so, a person who will support and nominate to the bench of the United States judges who will interpret the Constitution conservatively. And I believe the Republican candidates that are offering themselves will pledge themselves to do that. Those are the kinds of people I can support.
Comments (1)
I have said on these very same blogs for many of months now......
Rudy goes nowhere other then back to his consulting firm. (Although making money for doing so as he has met a lot of $$ people along the way)
Rudy is Waaaaay too Liberal for the National Republican Party.
Bye-Bye Rudy!
Jim Kelly - Conservative Campaigns