There are signs
that former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani may be
trying to distance himself from his reputation for
supporting abortion rights and gay equality as he eyes
a possible run for the Republican presidential
nomination in 2008. In a 1999 Interview with CNN's Inside
Politics, then-mayor Giuliani said, "I'm
pro-choice. I'm pro-gay rights"
But as the
midterm election draws near and Giuliani gets closer to what
many believe will be a shot at the presidency, the former
mayor is campaigning for some very antichoice,
anti-gay rights GOP candidates. Some political
experts say he's "mending fences."
On Tuesday,
Giuliani appeared at a rally for U.S. senator Rick Santorum
of Pennsylvania, a vocal opponent of gay rights, who has
said that states should regulate homosexuality "the
same as they regulate human sexual contact with
animals." Giuliani said of Santorum, "In any age you
don't have many leaders. Senator Santorum is one of them."
The New York Times reports that Giuliani will
head to Iowa later this month to campaign for U.S.
representative and gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle.
Nussle is also an opponent of gay rights, having voted
for the federal constitutional ban on same-sex
marriage in 2004 and a ban on adoptions by gays in
Washington, D.C., in 1999. Iowa is also home of the
first national presidential caucus--and one of
the first stops for most presidential candidates.
And earlier this
week former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed
announced that Giuliani would headline a fund-raiser in
May for Reed's campaign for lieutenant governor of
Georgia. (Sirius OutQ News)