(CNN) – A prominent, socially moderate Republican said Sunday that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has achieved iconic status with the Republican Party’s conservative base, is an asset to the GOP.
“I think Sarah Palin is great for the Republican Party,” former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in an interview that aired on CNN’s State of the Union.
Giuliani said Palin generates a lot of enthusiasm for the party which has struggled to define itself and identify its leading voices after the McCain-Palin ticket lost its White House bid a year ago.
“She gets a tremendous reception even here in Democratic New York,” Giuliani, who hosted Palin at a New York Yankees game, told CNN’s John King.
“We’re very far away from a 2012 election,” Giuliani added, “Right now, I like figures who are creating interest in the Republican Party.
“Given the decisions that the Obama administration is making, particularly on this area of terrorism which concerns me probably more than any other, we’re going to need some pretty strong alternatives in 2012. I don’t know if it’ll be Sarah Palin or someone else. But right now it’s [about] developing interest in a Republican Party and we need a two-party system and we need a healthy one.”
Giuliani said he had not made any decision yet about whether he will seek the White House again in 2012 or run for New York governor. Asked when he had to make that decision, Giuliani told King “Not today, not this morning.”
From CNN Politics
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Rudy is a has been.....................we should care about what Rudy has to say, just as much as we care what Sarah Palin has to say......enough already
Rudy is afraid of GOP extreme conservatives purge of moderates and is trying to move his position further to the right.
Palin has no intention of ever running for president. (She didn't even like being governor of Alaska.) BUT, when asked about 2012 she has to leave the door open or otherwise her media coverage would evaporate and her book sales go down the tubes. She is simply pursuing the American Dream — becoming rich and famous. That's all she cares about.
He is an idiot for thinking Palin could even think of running for any office. I thought I had respect for him but by his comments for Palin he just lost any confidence I ever had in him.
I'm telling you, Giuliani just wants to wear her pretty high heels.
Oh Jeeez, I thought you said "moderate", then you trot out Giuliani, how did he say his compliment, "I Rudy 9/11 Giuliani 9/11, think that 9/11 Sarah 9/11 Palin has 9/11 a great 9/11 deal to say to 9/11 America, oh and 9/11.
Why is anyone paying any attention to anything that this has-been parochial politician has to say? He was only a mayor. Not a Senator, Representative, Governor or a Cabinet member. He has held no bif party or national office. Large as New York is, his opinion is really no more or less valid than that of any man or women in the street.
as a woman in her thirties, i found it hard to identify with most of the males in the republican party. i saw it as the party of gray haired old men, she is everything i stand for, she made me excited to be a republican. and if she didn't scare the you know what out of the dems, they wouldn't try so hard to defame her. you rock sarah.
"Moderate raves about Palin"
Giuliani is no moderate, but he is a chameleon like Romney.
AMEN BROTHER. No truer words have you spoken. Palin for 2012. Get rid of O-Bangy-U before it is too late.
Sarah is great for a party, but I don't know about the Republicans.
Okay Rudy, then you just go ahead and nominate her in 2012. Maybe she'll give yo the VP slot. Right.
I used to get really ache - deep down in my soul - when reading these comments about a fellow-American, Sarah Palin.
But now I realize that these people are nothing but empty inside - living a purpose-less life - and I just say a little prayer for them.
I am a life-long Republican whose first vote was for Eisenhower. When I moved to Oregon in 1978 the Governor, both Senators and the great majority of state legislators were Republican. Then along came the far right social conservatives who have destroyed the party. All state-wide offices and the majority of the legislature are now in Democratic hands. Sarah Palin is doing to the national Republican party exactly what was done in Oregon years ago. As a FISCAL conservative, I'm sad.
The GOP will use her to fire up their base and for fundraising but I would really be suprised if she was nominated as She can not win. SHE LOST THE ELECTION FOR JOHN MCCAIN AND THE GOP KNOWS IT.
Don't under estimate the power of stupid people in a large groups.
That just shows how out of touch the GOP is. She is a lunatic with a cult following, but no meaningful knowledge or experience.
Neither is presidential material...Rudy or Palin. Palin doesn't have the knowledge it takes, and Rudy is a republican only for the republicans who want to destroy Social Sec and Medicare. This country was almost destroyed by Bush and I just hope Obama can bring it back. It may be impossible for any one to undo the harm Bush has done.
One irrelevant politico talking about another irrelevant politico, imagine that. As soon as we can get rid of these "people magazine celebrity politicians" maybe we can get some decent leadership. Leadership that is absent on both sides of the aisle.
What a twit.
As a Canadian I would hope my country would quickly aquire nuclear weapons and point them at the USA if Palin was voted in. We can't trust a country with the combined intelligence of three monkeys. If Palin was elected I'd probably spend the next year beating the crap out of Americans who dare visit my city.
Palin is the best friend the Democrats ever had. Too bad they're too fragmented to capitalize on it.
Rudy G. is awaiting the sunset. :-$
Okay Rudy, who instructed you to say this? Get real you moron and tell us what you REALLY think.
This from the person who ran probably the worst campaign for president in the modern era. He was the Republican frontrunner at the beginning of the campaign 2-3 years ago and barely won any electoral votes. Why should people take anything he says about presidential electoral politics seriously?