Giuliani Breaks With Bush On Palestinian State Issue

Former New York Mayor Giuliani has now made it clear he differs from the Bush administration on the idea of a Palestinian state:

Republican 2008 White House front-runner Rudolph Giuliani warned Tuesday it was not in the interest of the United States to help create a Palestinian state that would “support terrorism.”

President George Bush has repeatedly said the U.S. will work to help create a stable Palestinian state.

In an article in the journal Foreign Affairs, the former New York mayor also said too much emphasis had been placed on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which he said just brought up the same issues “again and again.”

Giuliani renamed the US “war on terror” as “the Terrorists’ War on US” in his hawkish article in the September/October issue of the magazine, and predicted a long battle against “radical Islamic fascism.”

In the latest of a series of essays in Foreign Affairs by presidential candidates, Giuliani also predicted US troops would still be in Iraq and Afghanistan when the next president takes office in January, 2009.

He argued that the problem for Palestinians since the Islamist movement Hamas won parliamentary elections last year, was not a “lack of statehood” but good governance.

“Too much emphasis has been placed on brokering negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians — negotiations that bring up the same issues again and again,” he wrote.

“It is not in the interests of the United States, at a time when it is being threatened by Islamist terrorists, to assist the creation of another state that will support terrorism,” Giuliani wrote.

“Palestinian statehood will have to be earned through sustained good governance, a clear commitment to fighting terrorism, and a willingness to live in peace with Israel.”

This is one of several Giuliani statements (written or verbal) that increasingly show where he is to Republican voters with just enough continuity with the kind of toughness many Republican base voters demand while distancing himself in approach just enough from the Bush administration so voters won’t think that a vote for him is for Bush 44.

His biggest task will be in the general election — if he indeed gets the nomination.

He’ll be walking a political tightrope, trying to keep won-over Republican voters while peeling off some DLC-type Democrats and some independent voters. It will require more than talking points or nuance: it’ll also require communicating a sense of sincerity, consistency and trustworthiness.

Senator John McCain had to walk this same kind of tightrope as he tried to maneuver himself from the one-year-ago-perceived GOP establishment favorite to nominee.

But McCain fell off the tightrope with a thud, crushing to the ground as he left GOP stalwarts unconvinced (despite efforts to woo them), furious at him on immigration (he has since adjusted his stance while insisting he hasn’t), and found that independent voters and even DLC-type Democrats distrust him due to his having to shift (while insisting he wasn’t) his position on some key assertions he made in 2000. His campaign is now literally on political life support — and it’s easy to bet the plug will be pulled after the few first primaries (at the latest).

Look for Giuliani to keep projecting this aura of offering Republican voters just enough continuity if they vote for him but not offering them a clone of the Bush administration — which means he may even take a tougher stance on some issues, as recently did on immigration.

And since he knows he can’t just win with the GOP base — which has now shrunk — look for him to increasingly try to win over non-progressive voters who aren’t Republicans by showing he won’t take orders from Crawford if he wins.

UPDATE: Another take on this via Ed Morrissey.