Our front running Rudy Giuliani appeared today at Drake U’s Olmstead Center. The room was packed, with every chair filled. The room was set for about 225 and there several on the stage and standing so the best guess would be about 250 (exclusive of handlers and media) were there to hear Giuliani.
The crowd was youthful, not a surprising demographic given the venue. However, many were young adults of the post college-pre male pattern baldness age group. I’m guessing some of them are now earning their first paychecks where student loans and health insurance really are competing with the party budget for priority. Microeconomic fiscal conservatism certainly comes with fiscal burden, a terrible shock for twenty-somethings during every period of history I would guess.
The event was opened by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Gov. Perry was clearly reaching out to social conservatives. TRS has not had a chance to talk with literally any political types from the audience so I don’t know how Gov. Perry’s arguments were received.
Rudy focused hard on the need for free market economic reforms. Rudy described a recurring dream of French Pres. Sarkozy flying west from France toward the United States passing so close to a plane flying east from the United States to France, carrying Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and John Edwards, that President Sarkozy could wave good-bye as the Democrats joined the forgotten failures of the past. What a great metaphor for the Democrat lemming like embrace of socialist solutions to America’s problems at a time that even the silliest, lethargic and collective of old Europe’s socialist societies have rejected the collective model for market based solutions. Rudy hits Hillary hard with her stream of very costly socialist experiments.
A semi-heckler from the American Diabetes Association tried to pick a fight because Rudy wouldn’t provide a government guarantee of “free” health care for everyone living in the country. The Giuliani response was very, very effective. Comparing the price depressive effects of competition for such products as televisions and cell phones to the effects of similar competition in a consumer and market based health care market creates an analogy that everyone can readily understand.
Rudy stayed on message, continuously drawing the distinctions between Democrat socialism and Republican individualism. This is the fourth time I have seen Rudy with a large audience. Aside from a very passing reference at the Lincoln Dinner, Rudy never even acknowledges his Republican primary opposition. The Rudy pitch appears designed to create consensus around his beliefs rather than his submission to the collective beliefs of the audience.
As always, Giuliani finished with a discussion of the need to stay on the offense in the War on Terror. Offense versus defense is the basic premise of his campaign. Giuliani never strays too far from the aggressive message of attacking and destroying the terrorists abroad and discovering and destroying those who’ve crossed our borders.
The GOP field has been noticeably absent in Iowa over the last two weeks. Its good to see Mayor Giuliani here and Sen. McCain coming soon. Less than 90 days to go!!!
The crowd was youthful, not a surprising demographic given the venue. However, many were young adults of the post college-pre male pattern baldness age group. I’m guessing some of them are now earning their first paychecks where student loans and health insurance really are competing with the party budget for priority. Microeconomic fiscal conservatism certainly comes with fiscal burden, a terrible shock for twenty-somethings during every period of history I would guess.
The event was opened by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Gov. Perry was clearly reaching out to social conservatives. TRS has not had a chance to talk with literally any political types from the audience so I don’t know how Gov. Perry’s arguments were received.
Rudy focused hard on the need for free market economic reforms. Rudy described a recurring dream of French Pres. Sarkozy flying west from France toward the United States passing so close to a plane flying east from the United States to France, carrying Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and John Edwards, that President Sarkozy could wave good-bye as the Democrats joined the forgotten failures of the past. What a great metaphor for the Democrat lemming like embrace of socialist solutions to America’s problems at a time that even the silliest, lethargic and collective of old Europe’s socialist societies have rejected the collective model for market based solutions. Rudy hits Hillary hard with her stream of very costly socialist experiments.
A semi-heckler from the American Diabetes Association tried to pick a fight because Rudy wouldn’t provide a government guarantee of “free” health care for everyone living in the country. The Giuliani response was very, very effective. Comparing the price depressive effects of competition for such products as televisions and cell phones to the effects of similar competition in a consumer and market based health care market creates an analogy that everyone can readily understand.
Rudy stayed on message, continuously drawing the distinctions between Democrat socialism and Republican individualism. This is the fourth time I have seen Rudy with a large audience. Aside from a very passing reference at the Lincoln Dinner, Rudy never even acknowledges his Republican primary opposition. The Rudy pitch appears designed to create consensus around his beliefs rather than his submission to the collective beliefs of the audience.
As always, Giuliani finished with a discussion of the need to stay on the offense in the War on Terror. Offense versus defense is the basic premise of his campaign. Giuliani never strays too far from the aggressive message of attacking and destroying the terrorists abroad and discovering and destroying those who’ve crossed our borders.
The GOP field has been noticeably absent in Iowa over the last two weeks. Its good to see Mayor Giuliani here and Sen. McCain coming soon. Less than 90 days to go!!!
1 comment:
Planet Earth calling. If the major GOP candidates made the the effort to really talk to the ordinary man in the street, it would learn folks are barely holding on financially. Free enterprise and endless warmaking means nothing to people without medical insurance, huge credit card and education debt, and mortgages they can't service.
The townhouse in WDM I'm renting will go to foreclosure next month. The landlord, a commerical real estate agent in his mid-30s, can't refinance because his income has fallen almost to nothing in this dead property market. Apparently he's been living on the funds from prior refinancings.
Appears I'm the only candidate doing the Jimmy Carter/Bill Clinton campaigning shtick. Guiliani's star power will fill any room but is very unlikely to fill ballot boxes in 11/08.
The GOP is living in the clouds if it thinks Hillary bashing is all they need do to win. I'm certainly no Hillary fan but she brings to mind the comment about Golda Meir as being "the only man in cabinet"!
Today's socialism for the rich and free enterprise for everybody else is the royal road to political oblivion.
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