Rudy Giuliani Moves Closer to 2008 Republican Presidential Bid 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 5, 2007
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — Rudy Giuliani moved one step closer on Monday to officially announcing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president in 2008. The pro-abortion former mayor of New York filed a "statement of candidacy" with the Federal Election Commission in Washington.
Giuliani had previously established an exploratory committee, which allows candidates to raise and spend funds on a potential presidential campaign without announcing one.
On Monday, Giuliani filed the statement and also eliminated the phrase "testing the waters" that accompanied his previous paperwork.
The move puts Giuliani on par with Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who have both filed statements and formed exploratory committees.
They are considered the two other top GOP candidates at this point, although others, like Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee are drawing significant support from the pro-life community.
IN an attempt to show he’s serious about a potential candidacy, Giuliani has traveled to South Carolina and New Hampshire — sites of early primary contests — in recent weeks.
"There’s a real good chance," he would run, Giuliani said over the weekend, although still coy about a definitive answer, according to an AP report.
Giuliani appears at or near the front of national polls of Republican voters and those of GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.
However, once the presidential campaign begins in earnest, his pro-abortion and pro-embryonic stem cell research positions likely won’t play well with Republican voters, most of whom are pro-life. An internal strategy memo leaked out last month acknowledging that fact.
Republican voters have previously turned away pro-abortion candidates from capturing the primary nod, including former California Gov. Pete Wilson and Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter. Republicans haven’t had a pro-abortion nominee since Gerald Ford in 1976.
When asked to respond to social issues on CNN’s Inside Politics in a 1999 interview, Giuliani replied, "I’m pro-choice."
In the same CNN interview he also indicated he does not support even a modest ban on the gruesome partial-birth abortion procedure saying, "No, I have not supported that, and I don’t see my position on that changing."
Giuliani also indicated he would have upheld President Clinton’s veto of the partial-birth abortion ban.
"Yes. I said I then that I support him, so I have no reason to change my mind about it," he told the New York Times in November 1999.
Giuliani’s high standings in 2008 presidential polls are likely the result of his elevated name identification following his efforts to help New York City following the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Other potential Republican candidates include pro-life former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, pro-life Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, pro-life Reps. Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson.
