Perry backing Giuliani disappoints conservatives

10/17/2007

By SUZANNE GAMBOA / Associated Press

Conservatives and gun rights advocates in Texas said they are disappointed and mystified by Gov. Rick Perry's endorsement Wednesday of GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani.

Perry endorsed Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, at an economic conference of the Club For Growth, a conservative advocacy group. Unlike Perry, Giuliani has favored abortion rights and gun control.

"When I go to buy a pickup truck, if it's got one option on it that I'm not either particularly fond of or not looking for, doesn't mean I discard that pickup truck. I'm looking at the results and I think that's what Americans will coalesce. They'll look for the results," Perry said.

The Texas governor, who accompanied Giuliani on a campaign trip to Iowa later in the day, said, "Mayor Giuliani is not the enemy. Rudy Giuliani is a culture warrior."

Perry is the first major-state governor to endorse Giuliani. His endorsement comes just in time for a three-day "values voter summit" that begins Thursday by the Family Research Council, a religious conservative group. Giuliani and other GOP candidates plan to attend.

Perry was also to attend two later town-hall style meetings in Iowa, appearances apparently aimed at reassuring conservatives who might be leery of Giuliani because of his support of abortion rights and past stands on gay rights and gun control.

Perry's endorsement of Giuliani is a letdown for many Texas social conservatives and gun groups, who have considered Perry a reliable ally on opposing abortion and embryonic stem cell research and defending gun ownership rights.

Elizabeth Graham, director of Texas Right to Life, said Perry called her Tuesday to tell her of his planned endorsement. She said she urged him to wait.

She said she was baffled by the endorsement.

"I reminded Gov. Perry we worked so hard in Texas to pass legislation .... and those efforts will be stifled on the federal level by a pro-choice president," Graham said.

Texas land commissioner Jerry Patterson, who is a chairman of rival Fred Thompson's Texas campaign, said he was confused by Perry's endorsement.

"One of the most, if not the most, conservative governors in Texas history endorses a pro-choice, rabidly anti-Second Amendment former New York mayor, who as mayor endorsed the Democrat Mario Cuomo over the Republican George Pataki for governor of New York?

"What happened to conservative principles as the first measure of who to support for any office?," Patterson said in an e-mail.

Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum, said Perry has put his supporters in a quandary. She said Giuliani shouldn't assume Perry's endorsement brings with it conservative backing.

"Just because Gov. Perry supports Giuliani doesn't mean we are going to follow him off a cliff and that's how I see it, off a cliff," Adams said.

Perry suggested he expects most of the decision-making on abortion and other issues to come from the Supreme Court.

He said he asked Giuliani "what type of individual can I expect on the Supreme Court? He said, 'You can look for people like (Justices Antonin) Scalia, (John) Roberts and (Samuel) Alito.' Well let me tell you, I can live with that," Perry said.

But Graham said Perry not only nominated anti-abortion judges, but his policy advisers and many people in charge of state agencies also have anti-abortion views. She said her group does not trust Giuliani to do the same.

"I think there are moderate Republicans or pro-choice Republicans in any circle and I think fear of (Democratic candidate) Hillary (Clinton) has spooked moderate Republicans into supporting Rudy and into thinking that a true blue conservative, a Republican, can't beat Hillary. I think that's a false assumption," Graham said.

Christian conservatives have long been influential in the Republican Party. But they've been unhappy with the 2008 GOP presidential candidates.

Perry, now in his second full term, is seen in some circles as a possible vice presidential nominee. But for that he would have to overcome voters' "Texas fatigue" from President Bush's administration.

Perry has insisted he's not interested in going to Washington, but he hasn't ruled out accepting an offer to be a running mate.

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said Perry likely assumes he can win back conservatives who disagree with his endorsement. "This is an attempt to create options for his career," Jillson said.

He said Perry is "burned out in Texas politics." Perry won re-election with 39 percent of the vote and had a sometimes rocky legislative session this year.

Giuliani has collected about $4.8 million from Texas for his campaign, more than any other presidential candidate. He is helped in part by his role as a name partner in the Houston-based law firm Bracewell & Giuliani, which has a healthy list of energy-giant clients.

Perry seemed to want some stealth for his endorsement.

Although the Club For Growth issued a news release announcing Giuliani would receive a major endorsement, Perry's office did not issue any media releases until just before the event.

Perry refused to stop to answer questions and relied on security and others to block a reporter trying to ask questions. When the reporter shouted the questions at Perry, the aides grabbed the reporter and threatened her with jail.

A Perry spokesman didn't immediatly respond to a question about the incident, but said his office would comment later.

Associated Press Writer Kelley Shannon contributed to this report from Austin, Texas.