Rudy dodges questions about whether he's a 'good Catholic'

[Tab]

Source: NY Daily News

Rudy Giuliani may be trying to woo religious conservatives, but the former mayor all but took an oath of silence yesterday when asked if he was a practicing Catholic.
"My religious affiliation ... and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests," the Republican presidential hopeful told a voter at a forum in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Another questioner mentioned President Bush's success among Catholics and urged Giuliani to explain his faith. Again, Giuliani took a pass.

"That's a matter of individual conscience," Giuliani said. "I don't think there should be a religious test for public office."

For Giuliani, the only pro-choice candidate seeking the Republican nomination for President, it was an awkward moment and one that could haunt him among conservatives in his party, experts said.
...
Asked after the Iowa encounter when Giuliani last attended church, aides declined to comment, citing privacy concerns.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/08/08/2007-08-08_bedeviled_by_faith.html

---

Ooohh... privacy concerns.

I have no problem unless you try to make the issue a selling point, at which point you give up "privacy concerns"

[Warren Stupidity]

1. I despise that miserable fuck but he is 100% right on this.

Good for you Rudy. At least you have the honesty to answer that question the way it should be answered: 'none of your fucking business.'

[AwakeAtLast]

2. I agree, except that doesn't fly with me if you are trying to run as a GOPer

They are the ones who have shoved "religious values" down our throats. To have it come up for the GOP again and to have one of them decline to answer is pretty shocking. It will lose many of the GOP base for Rudy. That what happens when you feed them too much Kool-aid. ;)

edit: spelling

[youngdem]

4. But Rudy isn't really like the rest of the Right Wing

and we should encourage this position on the Right. It helps us more than it helps them, for sure.

Rudy is 100% correct on this. Never thought I would say that.

[rodeodance]

3. where are the Bushops to say no Communion? like they did to Kerry!

[HockeyMom]

5. He divorced and remarried

Automatic no communion.

[gratuitous]

6. Yeah, I seem to recall another recent candidate . . .

I hope this is just the beginning. For those of us who were disgusted and appalled by the treatment Kerry was subjected to month after month in 2004, perhaps we need to see the exact same thing happen to a Republican (and one who's not going to get his party's nomination anyway) for the lesson to sink in for some of the slower coaches in the media chucklehead class.

[Demit]

9. Except the exact same thing isn't going to happen for a Republican, is it?

No bishops will be interviewed by the press, ostentatiously refusing to serve Guiliani communion. No relentless narrative about how godlessly secular Rudy is, or how he is betraying the precepts of his Church. Nope, the media narrative will segue smoothly into this being a matter of privacy, and how dare anyone be so gauche as to question someone's private religious principles. The media are quite serene in their chuckleheadedness; they will be unperturbed by any accusation of hypocrisy. It is the very air they breathe, and have been for eight years now.

[last_texas_dem]

11. Good point

I definitely wouldn't put any money on Ghouliani receiving treatment even remotely similar to the bashing the media gave Kerry on this subject in '04, even though Ghouliani has already supplied them with more ammo than Kerry ever did.

[Bill McBlueState]

7. "I don't think there should be a religious test for public office."

No surprises here, but note that citing the Constitution like Giuliani did is considered "an awkward moment" in Republican circles.

Why do Republicans hate the Constitution?

[Javaman]

8. How about asking him if he's a good human, being the ghoul that he is. nt

[Mandate My Ass]

12. Exactly. His actions make him a sorry human being. Do the math.

Even his kids don't like him. But it sounds like if he goes to church every Sunday, none of that matters. :puke:

[triguy46]

10. How frickin' convenient for him.

[Az_lefty]

13. why don't they ask when bush last attended Church???

answer is, he hasn't. The guy's a total phony. He may have created an image the religious right connects with, but it's all image and no substance.