2008 potential presidential candidates:

Republican candidates:
the religious/moral aspects

Sponsored link.

The choices:

Voting in Iowa, New Hampshire, and during Super Tuesday winnowed the field down to one viable candidate: John McCain. Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are still in the race. As of 2008-FEB-08, neither appears to have any chance to overtake McCain's lead.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani:

Born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1944, Giuliani career included the practice of law in New York City, leadership roles in the federal Department of Justice, and as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He was elected mayor of New York City in 1993 and re-elected in 1997 in one of the largest landslides in the history of the city's mayoral elections. ₇

In 2000-MAY, Giuliani informed reporters - and his wife - that he was seeking a separation. His second wife, Donna Hanover, responded with allegations that he had had an affair with his press secretary. ₁₀

On 2007-JUL-27, he apparently received the blessing of leading fundamentalist Christian Pat Robertson when they appeared together at Robertson's Regent University. Later that day, he spoke to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and indicated his support for the state of Israel. The said that terrorists:

"... are at war with us. You got to look at Iraq in a context that is them versus us. ... We made the mistake [of not doing that] with Hitler. I'm not going to make that mistake again. If I'm president, I'm not going to let any man destroy Israel." ₁₁

In Council Bluffs, IA, he promised that he would select "strict constructionist" federal judges if he is elected president. James Oliphant of the Knight Ridder Tribune business news commented:

"... Giuliani has tied himself in a big way to the Federalist Society, the expanding network of conservative lawyers who over the past quarter-century have played a leading role in reshaping the nation's judiciary and setting high-level Republican administration policy. The newest Supreme Court justice, Samuel Alito, is a proud son of the group, as are his elders on the court, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. And although the reported membership of Chief Justice John Roberts has been a matter of some dispute, Robert will be delivering the keynote speech at the society's annual convention this fall."

"Giuliani will be there too. His overture to the Federalist Society seems to be a bid to reassure nervous conservatives that they can count on him to do the right thing when it comes to selecting judges and crafting legal policy." ₁₄

Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani on 2007-NOV-07. Robertson recognizes that Giuliani has pro-life beliefs, and has been a staunch supporter of equal rights for gays and lesbians. But he supports Giuliani because of his promise to nominate strict constructionist judges to the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts. Robertson apparently believes that stacking the Supreme Court with extreme conservatives will cause the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

Giuliani dropped out of the race on 2008-JAN-30 after the Florida primary.

Former governor of Arkansas, Mike Huckabee:

Mike Huckabee (1955 -) graduated magna cum laude from Ouachita Baptist University, attended Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is an ordained Southern Baptist minister. He served as pastor in three Southern Baptist churches. He encouraged the all-white Immanuel Baptist Church to allow African American members. During 1993, he won a race for lieutenant governor of Arkansas. In 1966, he won the Republican nomination for Senator, but quit the race in order to become governor.

As governor of Arkansas, he proclaimed 1997 as a year of racial reconciliation. He opposes abortion access, same-sex marriage and civil unions, the death penalty, creationism, the war in Iraq. He opposes gun control. During the 2007-MAY-03 Republican Presidential Debates he expressed support of a "FairTax," a balanced budget with reduced spending, making the Bush administration's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts permanent, combating climate change, and comprehensive immigration reform.

On 2007-NOV-19, Mike Huckabee claimed that the right to life of embryos and fetuses is a moral issue and not subject to interpretation by individual states. He compared abortion access to slavery. He said:

"It's the logic of the Civil War. If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong."

James Dobson, founder of the fundamentalist Christian group Focus on the Family, broke with tradition on 2008-FEB-07 by endorsing Huckabee for president. Dobson commented on Huckabee's "unwavering positions on the social issues" -- mainly excluding same-sex couples from equal rights, reducing or eliminating abortion access, and the promoting the importance of faith over secularism.

Governor George Pataki of New York:

The Emergency Contraceptive controversy surfaced in New York state as it did in Massachusetts under governor Mitt Romney. ₁

On 2005-JUL-13 Edward Cardinal Eagan and seven Roman Catholic bishops asked Governor Pataki to veto a bill that would permit the sale of EC to prevent pregnancy. Egan called it "both morally offensive and inappropriate health policy for New York State." He believes that EC can produce a "chemical abortion." He is concerned that young women might purchase the pills repeatedly without their parents knowledge. The bishops told the governor: "It is difficult to imagine why anyone would support restricting parental rights and potentially exposing young girls to harmful and powerful medications on a repeated basis." ₂

On 2005-JUL-31, Kevin Quinn, a spokesperson for Governor George Pataki (R) disclosed that the governor planned to veto the EC legislation passed by the legislature that would have allowed women to buy EC without a prescription. Quinn said:

"Consistent with his record on women's reproductive issues, the governor plans to veto the legislation primarily because it provides no protection whatsoever for minors. If this and other flaws in the bill are addressed, and a responsible version of the bill is advanced, the governor would support it." ₃

Kelli Conlin, executive director of the New York chapter of National Abortion Rights Action League said:

"Republican strategists have said Pataki's biggest hurdle if he seeks national office will likely be his past support, as governor, for abortion and gay rights as well as strict gun-control legislation....It's unfortunate that as he looks to run for president he would toss away his principled legacy for sheer political expediency. It's obviously a flip-flop on his part." ₃

On 2005-AUG-04, Governor Pataki vetoed the bill, He cited concerns that the bill did not include clauses that would:

Kelli Conlin of NARAL commented: "This was driven by politics." ₄

Former governor of Massachusetts: Mitt Romney:

See a separate essay.

Former Senator Fred Thompson:

Thompson is well known for his portrayal as the District Attorney on the TV program Law and Order. During 1994 to 2002, he served two terms as senator for the state of Tennessee. His two major accomplishments -- the fundraising hearings of 1997 and as the major architect of the successful drive for campaign finance overhaul -- infuriated conservatives at the time. So did his vote against impeachment of then president Clinton.

There are allegations from a family-planning organization and others, that he accepted a paid assignment in 1991 to lobby President George H. W. Bush's administration to loosen an abortion restriction. ₉ However, Tony Perkins, head of the fundamentalist Christian Family Research Council supports Thompson and says that the story is not credible. ₁₂

He has only been divorced once -- a factor in his favor when compared to other Republican candidates. He married his current wife in 2002; Kehn is 24 years younger than her husband. ₁₃

He waited to announce his candidacy until after Labor Day. ₅ According to Wikipedia:

"On September 5, 2007 Thompson announced on The Tonight Show: 'I'm running for president of the United States,' and he steered viewers to www.fred08.com for a 15-minute video announcement of his candidacy."

Thompson's past stance on abortion access may alienate some conservative Republicans:

However, in 2006-JUN, in his video at the National Right to Life Committee, he declared himself pro-life. He noted his 100% voting record against abortion access; he is opposed to embryonic stem cell research; he referred to partial-birth abortion as more like "infanticide." He said that his reversal over abortion happened after having seen an ultrasonic image of his grandchild in utero. The Committee later endorsed Thompson for president.

Thompson dropped out of the race in 2008-JAN.

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Theo Emery, "Mass. Emergency Contraception Bill Vetoed," Washington Post, 2005-JUL-26, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
2. "Egan to gov: Veto 'morn-after' bill," New York Daily News, 2005-JUL-13, at: http://www.nydailynews.com/
3. Marc Humbert, "Pataki to veto 'Morning-after pill' bill," Associated Press, 2005-AUG-01, at: http://abcnews.go.com/
4. Marc Humbert, "Pataki vetoes morning-after pill bill," Associated Press, 2005-AUG-04, at: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
5. Peter Smith, "Pro-life Senator Fred Thompson to Add 'Law and Order' to Republican Presidential Candidate Race," LifeSiteNews.com, 2007-MAY-31, at: http://www.lifesite.net/
6. Elizabeth O'Brien, "Second poll Finds that Thompson Still Holds Lead Over Giuliani.
   Pro-Life candidate has 16% advantage in the conservative vote," LifeSiteNews.com, 2007-JUL-05, at: http://www.lifesite.net/
7. "A biography of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani," NYC web site, at: http://www.nyc.gov/
8.  Mark Memmott and Jill Lawrence, "USAT/Gallup Poll: Steady leads for Giuliani & Clinton," USA Today, 2007-JUL-09, at: http://blogs.usatoday.com/
9. Janet Hook, "Thompson not always at GOP core," Los Angeles Times, 2007-JUL-10, at: http://www.latimes.com/
10. Paul Lieberman. "Giuliani's private life tests public tolerance. He's not only candidate to have messy divorce," Los Angeles Times, 2007-MAY-12, at: http://www.concordmonitor.com/
11. Sara Lovenhelm, "Jews & Evangelicals for Giuliani?," Washington Post, 2007-JUN-27, at: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/
12. David Brody, "Key Evangelical Leader Defends Thompson," The Brody File, Christian Broadcasting Network, 2007-JUL-10, at: http://www.cbn.com/
13. "Social conservatives might balk at Fred Thompson's many ex-endorsements," Iowa Independent, at: http://rightsfield.com/
14. James Oliphant, "Giuliani hitches his star to conservative legal group," Knight Ridder Tribune, 2007-SEP-06, at: http://www.romingerlegal.com/
15. "Huckabee Rejects Letting States Decide Whether to Allow Abortions," Associated Press, 2007-NOV-19, at: http://www.foxnews.com/
16. "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll," Rasmussen Reports, is at: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/
17. "Mike Huckabee," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Copyright © 2005 to 2008 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2005-SEP-20
Latest update: 2008-FEB-09
Author: B.A. Robinson