(CNN) – Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani strayed from the facts in discussing the discord within the Republican Party caused by the insurgent candidacy of Doug Hoffman, a Republican who chose to run on the Conservative Party ticket in the recent special election for New York’s 23rd congressional district.
Talking about the Bill Owens, the Democrat who won the special election, Giuliani erroneously said Owens had voted against the Democratically sponsored health care reform bill that recently passed in the House of Representatives.
Prior to Owens' win, Doug Hoffman’s candidacy, which was supported by prominent conservatives including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, exposed a growing rift in the Republican party between conservatives represented by Hoffman and moderates represented by New York Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava. After lagging in polls and fund raising and being the target of attacks from both conservatives and Democrats, Scozzafava abruptly decided to drop out of the race just days before Election Day. After receiving Scozzafava’s last minute endorsement, Bill Owens, a Democrat, won a seat occupied by Republicans for more than a century.
Giuliani told CNN Chief National Correspondent John King that the nascent GOP civil war sparked by the NY-23 race was “not a good precedent for the party.”
“That’s the way you can allow Democrats to win even if the public has turned against them on certain things. I think in that particular case, I know that district. That’s a district that is very concerned about Obama’s health care [plan].”
“You see the Democrat has voted against the Obama health care program. That’s a district where we could elect a Republican if we get our act together and let’s hope don’t repeat that too often because then we surely won’t be a majority party.”
Giuliani’s comment about Bill Owens’ vote on the House health care reform bill was in error. Owens voted in favor of the bill.
From CNN Politics
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Rudy and the GOP should stop spending their time trying to manipulate elections, and should focusing on solving problems.
Maybe then people will take your party seriously. Until then, its pretty obvious all you care about is political games.
The majority of Americans want Health care reform and the more the republicans hold out against the peoples wishes, the more seats they will continue to lose. This coming from a republican who is seriously thinking of switching parties if they don't shape up and start working together, instead of working against the democrats for political points. They need to work for all the people, not just the far right tea parties who are in the minority and a little nutty in my opinion.
Is this the guy who was New York mayor when 9/11 occured?
Rudy's reasoning is askew.
All elected officals should learn from the action of a junior representative from Louisisana. Cao voted in favoe of th health care bill because his constitiuents want and need healht reform. He didn't vote along party lines. I elect me representativies to be my voice in Washington.
Rudy does not need Health care himself..He has some kind of Private government Health insurance of some sort that takes care of him.. And he knows nothing about anyone in the USA who has no health Insurance. He .never heard of that ..Just like a republican.. They got it all !....The other people?.... Well that is another story only he will be aware of when he reads the teachings of Jesus .. Who was concerned about people!.... Not like a politician... of Rudys stripe... huh?
Well Giuliani is wrong on many issues. I am not surprise. He is surely a Republican of convinient.
Sure it was in error. But did John King correct him on air? I doubt it. So, CNN viewers are left believing Mr. Guilliani. If Mr. King did correct him, I stand corrected and apologize.
a member of the GOP "straying from the facts"? Well that HAS to be a first don't you think??
He didn't stray from the facts; He lied.
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Who pulled Rudy's chain? Must be that an election is coming up.
Of course he lied..... he's a Republican isn't he?
"That’s a district where we could elect a Republican if we get our act together and let’s hope don’t repeat that too often because then we surely won’t be a majority party.”
With the party purity purge underway, you cons are definitely not going to be a majority party any time soon. The acolytes of Saint Sarah of the Silly will insure there are nothing but "christian" cons in the elections!
Hoffman, Palin, Bachmann etc, will win primaries but never a general election on a national level. Fortunately, you wingnuts ignore polls that say 70% of Americans would not vote for Miss Alaskan Anal Sphincter in the general elections.
So, just keep ignoring those "liberal biased polls" and stay tuned to Fox and Rasmussen.
Lord, hear my prayer!
Same song, different dancer. We hear the same tired rhetoric from every Republican trotted in front of a camera. Republicans I know are getting very tired of their own party and all the crazies that have taken it over. All they want to do is fight and block progress. There is no desire to fix healthcare (they could have when they were in power not too long ago), they have no desire to reign in deficit spending (they could have when they were in power not too long ago) and they have no desire to work with Democrats (they could have when they were in power not too long ago).
No, this is a morally bankrupt party. I hope they cleanse themselves soon or they will be totally irrelevant.
Giulianni's run for President was one of the biggest disasters of 2008. He invested millions in Florida and still could not make second place there. He is irrelevant. This man should do us all a favor and go away.
What a dope. Maybe he really does think Palin is good for the GOP. They appear to have the same traits when it come to repeating lies.
This is the Rudy that was a Bush and Kerik cheerleader...so far one has been sentenced to prison.
Mr Noun, Verb, 911 himself. Please take your 1 delegate and just go away.
NYS 23 voters spoke out against a carpetbagger and the national conservative has-beens & wannabees telling them how to vote. The conservative candidate couldn't answer questions on local issues or even vote for himself! He could care less about the people he pretended to represent. The nasty conservative rhetoric against a moderate woman didn't help. Their election to lose ... and they did!
A Republican who speaks untruths? Now there's a headline!
hahahaha...maybe he said it correctly but he was too busy spitting with that heavy tongue and horrible lisp, you heard him wrong....he has to be the worse speaker in the world...imagine kissing him....wet wet....hahahahaha
HE IS SO IRRELEVANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So much for Rudy's qualifications for governor. He doesn't realize that upstate just elected a Congressman who SUPPORTS HEALTHCARE REFORM. Not only do Rudy's 90's era ideas not resonate with people in NYC anymore, they don't resonate upstate either!
Wow, blind partisan idiots like him prefer talking points over facts? I am SO shocked.
Reality has a well-known liberal bias.
Of course they are concerned. Everything they think is in the bill the GOP has made up to scare them. NOW, if the GOP debate REAL items in the bill, they would demand that it pass. The ONLY people that want it to fail are the insurance co. That will loose revenue and the GOP because it will help Obama. I wish at least ONE time, just once the GOP would be on the side of the people, not cooperate interests.
I have much to be proud of, being a native New Yorker. This "man" is not one of them.