Rudy repeats justices call
Posted: Friday, November 16, 2007 5:15 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
WASHINGTON -- Giuliani
reaffirmed his commitment to appoint strict constructionist judges
Friday before the Federalist Society, and called on the Senate to
change its advise and consent rules to require a vote on judicial
nominations.
“We almost got to the point where the ‘advise and
consent’ clause was being reinterpreted as a way to bring back the
Spanish Inquisition,” he said, invoking the recent example of Miguel
Estrada, who was denied a vote. “The Senate should have the courage to
vote yes or no, but not to hide behind those nominations.”
Giuliani
used the speech to extol his areas of agreement with the conservative
jurists, but stayed clear from some of the issues in which they differ.
There was no mention of abortion rights, gay marriage or any other of
the hot-button topics that divide Giuliani from the Republican base.
Instead, he stuck to areas like cutting taxes and decreasing the size of government, as well as the red meat topic of activist judges. Giuliani referenced MSNBC host Chris Matthews, noting that all of the political analysts on “The Chris Matthews Show” agreed that Giuliani would keep his pledge to appoint strict constructionist judges.
“It’s the first time I agree with a group of Washington reporters,” he said. “We believe in the rule of law, not the rule of judges.”
He said as president he would be “seeking to find judges who understand the very, very important concept that judges exist to interpret the law, not invent the law.”
Giuliani brought home the argument by attacking Hillary Clinton, calling her a “recent convert” to federalism because she said drivers licenses for illegal immigrants should be decided on a state-by-state basis.
“This is the only time in her career that she’s decided anything should be decided on a state-by-state basis,” he said. “You know what, she picked the absolutely wrong one,” he said to applause, noting that border and immigration issues are preserved for the federal government.
Giuliani was the only Republican presidential candidate to accept the society’s invitation to speak, organizers said. He was introduced by Ted Olson, the former U.S. solicitor general, and referenced conservative stalwarts like Estrada and Robert Bork. Also Friday, the campaign added new names to its Justice Advisory Committee. It even kept the name of Michael Mukasey on the list, before sending out a second release noting that Mukasey had left the committee to become the U.S. attorney general.
As if showcasing Giuliani’s argument, the White House Friday announced seven new judicial nominations and highlighted confirmation delays. It notes 11 circuit court nominees now awaiting Senate confirmation, including six that are nominated for positions considered “judicial emergencies.”
Giuliani spoke largely from a script for the 40-minute address, and took no questions. As part of his remarks, Giuliani paid homage to the American constitutional system throughout the speech.
“It was this nation that saved the world from the two great tyrannies of the 20th Century, Nazism and communism. It’s this country that is going to save civilization from Islamic terrorism,” he said, receiving his loudest and most sustained applause.
Giuliani’s normal stump speech often targets tort reform and the need to end frivolous lawsuits. Those points didn’t make it into his Federalist Society speech. Even his favorite anecdotes about the multi-million dollar pants lawsuit in Washington didn’t make an appearance. Perhaps he thought lawyers wouldn’t be warm to tort reform proposals.
And there was a noticeable buzz in the air when Giuliani mistakenly referred to the Ten Commandments as “ten amendments,” before correcting himself. The Freudian slip came at the same time as questions are being raised about whether Giuliani, a Catholic, would receive communion because of his position on abortion and multiple marriages.
