Conservatives Step Up Attacks On Giuliani's Abortion Stance

The exchange captured the challenge for Giuliani: how to win the Republican nomination with a position on abortion at odds with that of many in his party, and with the stance of all nine of his GOP rivals.

Mitt Romney, who embraced a pro-abortion-rights position as governor of Massachusetts, has professed a change of conscience on the issue and now says he opposes abortion. McCain, who has clashed with conservatives on other issues, is hoping that his consistent antiabortion credentials will help him win over party activists.

The lesser-known GOP candidates are even more outspoken on the issue. During the debate, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas declared that the day the Supreme Court overturns the landmark Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion would be "a glorious day of human liberty and freedom."

Tancredo issued a news release this week emphasizing his antiabortion credentials. In the statement, he said that "if a Republican President of the United States won't vigorously fight to protect the life of the unborn, how long before the trend toward the culture of death becomes irreversible?"

That leaves Giuliani, who has maintained a lead over McCain in most national polling, as the outlier in the GOP field and an inviting target for the attacks of his rivals and conservative activists.

The conservative blog Redstate featured a posting yesterday with the title "Rudy's Done," citing the decade-old contributions to Planned Parenthood and demanding apologies from the former mayor.

"This is going to force him to become much clearer about his position on Roe v. Wade," the posting declared. "There's nothing short of 'I was wrong' that will cover this. . . . There's a big difference between being ambiguous and giving money to the biggest abortion providers in the nation."

Mike DuHaime, Giuliani's campaign manager, stressed the importance of issues such as the economy, taxes and terrorism. "Most Republican voters are going to judge all these candidates as a whole, not on one issue," he said.

Republican strategists said Giuliani's problems were exacerbated by his debate performance, which highlighted the vulnerabilities in the candidacy of the man known since Sept. 11, 2001, as "America's Mayor." Unable to attack Giuliani on national security, his critics had been waiting for an opening.

In Thursday's debate, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Giuliani responded to a question first by saying that it would be "okay" if Roe v. Wade were overturned. Then he said it would be okay if it were upheld, before winding his way back to a defense of his long-held abortion-rights position.

"He'd really be in better shape if he had just said, 'I'm pro-choice, but you'll like the judges I pick,' " said one adviser to a Republican rival in the presidential race. "Instead, he's trying to mealy-mouth the thing."