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Giulani To Headline Second Fundraiser for Reed

By jhutson	Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 05:55:34 PM EST
topic: Reed & Abramoff section:Front Page	print this story

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Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani will headline a campaign fundraiser for former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed. The luncheon event, slated for May 18, 2006, will mark the second time that Giulani has been the featured speaker for a Reed campaign fundraiser.

Reed's campaign for lieutenant governor in Georgia is struggling in the polls, and his support is eroding among his conservative Christian base, due to his ties to convicted former lobbyist Jack Ambramoff, who has been sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion, and fraud.

Reed's campaign has distributed an invitation marked by a smiling photo of the two Republican leaders together, according to an Associated Press Newswire report today. For now, that's about the best way for Reed to put a smiling face on a campaign that is steeped in the stench of corruption.

What does Giuliani stand to gain? It is widely believed that Giuliani is reaching out to religious conservatives because he's considering a run for the White House.

Even so, Giulani apparently fails to realize that Reed is disfavored by 44 percent of conservative Christian voters in Georgia, and even fewer of them give him a favorable rating.

Tickets for the luncheon range from $100 to $5,000. The event is expected to boost Reed's flagging campaign, which is down, but a long way from out.

Time Magazine reported on January 31, 2006, that Giuliani had previously headlined a fundraiser for Reed, even as the Christian Coalition's Pat Robertson has declared that Rudy would make a good president.

The Catholic mayor is also busy burnishing his ties to Christian conservatives. Pat Robertson has said Rudy would make "a good president" and the mayor was a headliner for a fundraising committee supporting former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed in his bid to be Georgia's lieutenant governor. Last week, Giuliani dropped by an Orlando meeting of the Global Pastors Network and told the Evangelical leaders that "only God knows" if he will run for president. The group offered their prayers for him and he responded in kind, showing an openly devout side not many people had seen before: "I can't tell you from my heart how much I appreciate what you are doing - saving people, telling them about Jesus Christ and bringing them to God."

If Christian groups want to bring people closer to God, that's admirable. They can start by bringing self-styled religious prophets like Reed closer to accountability for his hypocrisy and profit-making as a gambling lobbyist working with his close personal friend and business partner Jack Abramoff.

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Giulani To Headline Second Fundraiser for Reed | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)

Reed praises Giuliani's charisma (none / 0)

Howard Fineman wrote in the March 13, 2006, issue of Newsweek that Rudy has been reaching out to conservative pastors, and receiving lots of love from Reed. Here's Reed, gushing like a school boy:

A few weeks ago in Florida, he did the drop-by of all drop-bys as the "surprise guest" at the annual convention of the Global Pastors Network. He wowed them with his energy and his revival-style witness to his faith in Jesus. Ralph Reed, a godfather of religious conservatives, thinks Giuliani's charisma may help him overcome his social-issues liberalism in the Bible belt. "He can take control of a room better than any politician I've seen," said Reed. The key moment with the pastors was in the private holding room, where he spent quality time among their leaders. Giuliani told them that the keyto his final decision on whether to run would be whether he thought he could raise enough cash. But he didn't sound as if he had much doubt--and nothing going on in Memphis this week is likely to change his mind.

by jhutson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 06:10:46 PM EST

: What's gotten into Rudy? (none / 0)

Once upon a time he was an anticorruption prosecutor. But times have changed.
A few years ago, he lobbied hard for his buddy Bernard Kerick, who served as the Police Commissioner in NYC during his tenure as Mayor to be Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Turned out that Kerick had more than a few criminal connections.... and now he is wooing the Abramoff network? Hmm.
According to the Kerick profile in Wikipedia:

On December 2, 2004, Kerik was nominated by President Bush to succeed Tom Ridge as United States Secretary of Homeland Security. But on December 10, after a week of press scrutiny, Kerik withdrew acceptance of the nomination. Kerik stated that he had illegally hired a foreign worker as nanny and housekeeper and that he had failed to pay taxes required for her employment. Similar violations of immigration law had previously caused the withdrawal of the nominations of Linda Chavez as Secretary of Labor by G.W. Bush and of Zoe Baird as Attorney General by Bill Clinton.
But this turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. Shortly after withdrawal of the nomination, the press reported on several other scandals which might also have posed difficulties in gaining confirmation by the Senate. These include: an outstanding arrest warrant from 1998 stemming from unpaid bills on the maintenance of a condominium (documents regarding this warrant were faxed to the White House less than three hours before Kerik submitted his withdrawal of acceptance to the President); questions regarding Kerik's sale of stock in Taser International shortly before the release of an Amnesty International report critical of the company's stun-gun product; two simultaneous extra-marital affairs, one with his publisher Judith Regan, alleged by many close to Kerik to have taken place partly in a donated apartment near the World Trade Center site intended for rescue workers; a sexual harassment lawsuit; allegations of misuse of police personnel and property for personal benefit; connections with a construction company suspected of having ties to organized crime; and failure to comply with ethics rules on gifts.

by Frederick Clarkson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 06:28:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Giuliani testifies to conservative pastors (none / 0)

Praise the Lord and pass the voter guides.

by jhutson on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 06:21:27 PM EST

Rudy's"drag" photos won't help (none / 0)

Rude Rudy has some "drag" photos posted around the internet (trust me, he isn't any better looking in a dress). This, plus his living with a gay friend during his very well publicized divorce while mayor, would be a tough thing to overcome with the religious right base, even though they would probably forgive his divorces and adulterous escapades so thoroughly documented by the NYC tabloid press. Plus, he's an Eye-talian, which is for some reason less acceptable than Irish Catholic, and ran Sodom-on-the-Hudson. This is not going to be an easy sell in Iowa or S. Carolina or Missouri.

Rudy should just hang up politics and keep on the $25K a pop lecture circuit. And Reed is circling the drain.

by NancyP on Tue Apr 18, 2006 at 11:40:32 PM EST

: Who doesn't go drag inna privacy of his own city? (none / 0)

by jhutson on Wed Apr 19, 2006 at 01:01:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Giuliani: Do I have to drag it out of you? (none / 0)

What, do I have to drag it out of you? I said, 'Praise the Lord and pass the voter guides already.'

by jhutson on Wed Apr 19, 2006 at 01:17:55 PM EST

Rudy Will Never Get The Nomination. (none / 0)

As an Italian-American who has been down South, I just don't see Rudy getting the nomination. Opponents such as Frist or Allen will bring up his pro-choice and pro-gay rights positions. And if he tries to pull a G.H.W. Bush a'la; 1980 with abortion, he'll be painted as a flip-flopper. And if his primary opponents don't, Hillary will.

by Frank Cocozzelli on Mon Apr 24, 2006 at 07:23:03 AM EST

: He may not get the nomination (none / 0)

but he may get enough delegates to be a kingmaker, and angle for a cabinet post or a cool diplomatic assignment.

by Frederick Clarkson on Wed Apr 26, 2006 at 02:09:44 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Giulani To Headline Second Fundraiser for Reed | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)

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