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Giuliani's Tough New New Hampshire Ad

05 Dec 2007 08:55 am

Rudy Giuliani's new New Hampshire ad ("One Hour") is his first on the subject of national security. And it's eye-opening. The subject matter is Iran -- but not Iran of the present century -- Iran of the 1980s, and specifically, Iran's perception of the United States when Jimmy Carter was in power versus that same perception the moment Ronald Reagan became president.

“I remember back to the 1970s and the early 1980s. Iranian mullahs took American hostages and they held the American hostages for 444 days. And they released the American hostages in one hour, and that should tell us a lot about these Islamic terrorists that we’re facing. The one hour in which they released them was the one hour in which Ronald Reagan was taking the Oath of Office as President of the United States. The best way you deal with dictators, the best way you deal with tyrants and terrorists, you stand up to them. You don’t back down. I’m Rudy Giuliani and I approve this message.”

Now -- this ad, the Giuliani campaign says, was cut way before the new National Intelligence Estimate was released; it is not meant to reinforce Giuliani's specific policies towards Iran today -- just, generally, his "peace through strength" foreign policy message.

Comments (9)

Rudy's neocon advisor Norman Podehartz still thinks that the NIE is wrong, CIA is lying and we should still attack Iran. Does Rudy agree with him?

Rudy, can you also first answer: why you were banging your mistresses using taxpayer's money?

Rudy was probably screwing around with his mistreses when Iran released those hostages. What had Rudy to do with that release?

Not much of a Rudy fan. BUT, RM, the ad did not assert that Rudy had anything to do with the release, it is an observation that standing up to terrorism the the right approach and, by implication, saying that he would.

Actually, assuming that the NIE is RIGHT (big assumption), then the point being made by Rudy is validated. They would have stood down not because of some State Department negotiation session, but by showing them that we will stand up against rogue nations that threaten us.

How lame is this ad? It does not even make sense.

The hostages were not released because Reagan threatened "force" against Iran. They were released because a new president was elected and Iran used the release as a way to embarrass Carter. Carter had no good options in that situation.

What would Reagan had done if Iran had held them over the magical one hour? Would he have bombed Iran? Doubtful. He would have been screwed just like Carter.

The only time we saw Reagan really tested in the Middle East was the bombing of the marine barracks in Beirut that killed 248 marines. Response? Pull out.

Peace through strength indeed. Massive logic leap Rudy, as usual.

Reagan may have had a deal with Iran to NOT
release the hostages before the election, which might kill his chances.

Reagan traded missiles to the Iranians, illegally!

Reagan sent a cake to the Iranians begging for
help in releasing hostages taken in Lebanon.

Reagan sided with Saddam in his war with Iran.

Giuliani forgets much.

Everyone's missing the biggest part of the ad - Giuliani impersonating Ronald Reagan taking the oath of office, with his hand in the air while invoking the image. It's subtle but it's definitely done on purpose and I'm sure it will make at least a subliminal impression on viewers.

Shorter Rudy: I will secretly trade arms to Iran just like Saint Ronnie did!

All of you guys Are missing the piont. This has nothing to do with past presidents or sex with mistresses. He is simply Stating a point . . . He will stand up to terrorists and not back down to general political bullying. . . you all forget what good reagan did. And all of you forget that Rudy is not Reagan keep that in mind.

Not to be too obvious here, but Rudy didn't so much stand up to terrorists as he watched them destroy the command center he'd built in the middle of NYC's #1 target, ran away, and then gave a couple of really excellent press conferences about "resolve" and such.

So, if we're looking for a president who gives great press conferences in the face of terrorist attacks, Rudy's definitely our guy. Someone who can prevent and effectively respond to terrorist attacks...not so much.

Really, he stood on stage at the Republican National Convention and endorsed George Bush, the guy who let Osama get away, and then let al Quaeda infiltrate Iraq. He endorsed Bush, not Reagan. Little late to pretend otherwise now.