Giuliani Watch - 2

Front running Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has problems with the facts. The fact is that he needs the support of people with whom he doesn't agree. So, how to deal with this...? It seems that his campaign has decided on the old, tried-and-true method of... lying.

From Greg Sargent:

So it looks as if Rudy Giuliani's campaign aides think they've found a solution to the fact that he's repeatedly said he was for "partial birth" abortion in the past: Lie about it.

The other day, Rudy went on Fox News and told Sean Hannity that he was in favor of the late-term abortion ban provided it made an exception for the life of the mother. So we went and unearthed a bunch of quotes of Rudy back in 2000 in which he very clearly expressed his opposition to the ban. Those multiple quotes we unearthed can be found here and here.

Now those quotes have gained traction with a big news organization. Today's New York Times [this time, doing its job --bill] has a pretty decent piece on Giuliani's shifting abortion stands saying:

Mr. Giuliani’s campaign aides say his positions on abortion have not changed, and that his stand on what critics call partial-birth abortions has been mischaracterized, saying he opposed a ban only if it failed to include an exception to protect the life of the mother. But the ban vetoed by President Clinton did include such an exception.

Why, yes, it did indeed. If you're wondering why Rudy's aides would resort to such an easily debunked falsehood, it's probably because they have no other choice.

The fact that Rudy is pro-choice makes things tough enough for them; if religious conservatives learn that he was for partial birth abortion before he was against it, things will likely get even tougher. Now the remaining question is whether other big news orgs will hold Rudy accountable for his glaring flip-flop on the issue.