New York, NY —
In the past week, as former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani continued his unofficial presidential campaign, two hot-button issues surfaced - gun control and abortion. WNYC's Elaine Rivera went to Oklahoma City with the New York Republican to see how he was received:
REPORTER: Giuliani spoke at the commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the 1995 bombing that killed 168 people. It was two days after the Virginia Tech massacre and Giuliani threaded together the shooting, Oklahoma City and Sept.11 for the audience.
GIULIANI: We must do our best to see that another Oklahoma City attack or another Sept. 11 don't happen again - and now we must add to that Virginia Tech to do everything we can to resolve as best we can that never again - we want the terrorists to know it and the criminals to know it if you attack any one city or any one college you attack all of us....
REPORTER: The Republican candidate spoke of freedom against violence as a basic civil right and what Americans need to do in the future to prevent such incidents. What he did not mention was gun control - a position he strongly advocated during his mayoral tenure.
Here is Giuliani soon after taking office in 1994:
GIULIANI: I've been gratified to see the national interest sparked by my suggestion that we have national registration of guns, national gun licensing requiring not only identification but educational and testing 90 percent of guns in this come from outside the city.
REPORTER: Since he announced his presidential bid, Giuliani has taken a position that states have the right to choose their own gun laws.
Giuliani also re-positioned himself after this week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a ban on what opponents call partial birth abortion - once again heating up both sides of the debate. After the ruling, Giuliani issued a brief statement saying he supported the court's decision.
Back in 1997, Giuliani answered a questionnaire by the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League. He said he would oppose any legislation that would make criminals of doctors who perform the controversial procedure. He also supported Medicaid funding for abortion without any restrictions. Kelli Conlin, presidents of NARAL New York, said as mayor, Giuliani was a strong ally.
CONLIN: At that point, we clearly saw him as 100 percent pro-choice and a true friend of the issue.
REPORTER: Observers say Giuliani is now positioning himself to win over voters in red states like Oklahoma where gun control is an anathema and religious programming is common on the airwaves.
But for some Oklahomans like Gary Jones, chairman of the state's Republican party, there are mixed feelings about Giuliani.
JONES: Rudy's viewed as a strong leader that somebody can deal with the issues that faces challenges and that does a good job dealing with them
REPORTER: But when it comes to his strong pro-choice, pro gun-control positions in the past, Jones says Oklahomans will hesitate to throw their support behind him.
JONES: Those issues will hurt him, they will hurt him as far as people voting for him in the primary and he's addressed some of those issues but I think when it comes down to it, a lot of Oklahoma Republicans will have a hard time voting for him....
REPORTER: Giuliani's reception at the commemoration was polite.
Oklahoma City resident Shad Glass captured the mixed sentiment after attending a symposium Giuliani held with former Oklahoma City Mayor Ron Norick about the tragedies the two cities faced.
GLASS: If it were based on the way he handled the situation in New York with the twin towers coming down, I'd say he's definitely capable of handling national crisises, but as far as personal politics domestically you know I don't know...
REPORTER: After the symposium, Oklahoman voter Jane Winkler, purchased three copies of Giuliani's autobiography which were on display at the memorial site's museum's bookstore. She said she's a moderate when it comes to gun control and would vote for Giuliani. But she recognizes she may be in the minority - especially when it comes to gun control.
WINKLER: It wouldn't go over real well here - I guess it would depend upon who's voting - I guess most of the men would not be happy with that comment because there is a lot of hunting done here but my family wouldn't be happy with it either because they do a lot of hunting up north
REPORTER: On Giuliani's campaign web site, there is a section where he elaborates his positions on the issues. The words gun control are never mentioned. Instead, he refers to the Second Amendment - the right to bear arms. The web site says: quote Rudy understands that what works in New York doesn't necessarily work in Mississippi or Montana. For WNYC, I'm Elaine Rivera