Soccer Dad

The libertarian case for Giuliani. What?

Unlike some other Republicans, I have no problem with this year's field of Republican candidates for President. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I will support Mayor Giuliani in the primary.

The Volokh Conspiracy asked a group of libertarian leaning law professors to give endorsements for their favored candidates. And they got one for Giuliani from Prof. John McGinnis. I have to say that I was surprised. I support Giuliani because he was a successful mayor and understands the nature of our enemy. However I never thought I'd see a libertarian case for his candidacy. And yet here is the core of the argument:

At the time Rudy Giuliani was elected mayor, New York was in danger of falling apart and becoming an urban shell. Crime was out of control, with more than 2000 murders a year. There were large areas of the city where I was afraid to venture. A growing proportion of the city was on welfare. The Crown Heights riots had revealed the costs of treating people as members of ethnic groups rather than as individuals linked by civic bonds. Because of the low quality of life and high taxes, middle-class citizens were fleeing the city.

Rudy Giuliani turned this all around. He understood that civil order is the foundation of a prosperous and flourishing society and thus focused on policies that radically reduced crime of all kinds. One cannot say of many politicians that there are people alive because of their policies, but without Rudy Giuliani's leadership many walking the streets of New York today would have faced an early death.

Giuliani also understood that personal accountability provided the best opportunities for escaping poverty. He substituted workfare for welfare. Just as there are people were alive today as a result of Giuliani's policies, there are many more who are earning a decent living and self-respect.

One clarification is necessary here. The murder rate in New York was already declining when Giuliani was elected mayor. However under his leadership the drop accelerated. The murder rate dropped about 70% in less than three years.

There was also this pithy observation about the obstacles Giuliani faced.

Every day New York's leading newspaper delivered a wide range of bad ideas to the doorsteps of its most influential citizens.

(UPDATE: I should point out that this argues less that Giuliani governed according to libertarian principles but that the results of his term in office were consistent with libertarian values.)

Truth is that the McGinnis endorsement sounds a lot like what I'd hear from Fred Siegel. However Orin Kerr throws some cold water on the endorsement.

But then again perhaps this isn't the best sign that Giuliani will be around for the Maryland primary: Giuliani: Afghanistan surge, N.H. retreat

Days after his campaign pooh-poohed the political world’s laser-like focus on Iowa and New Hampshire as outdated “folly” perpetuated by “Beltway insiders,” Rudy Giuliani spent Wednesday in New Hampshire pitching a military expansion that he says would double the number of troops in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan surge would direct 10,000 troops from places other than Iraq to the southern part of the country.

A surge in New Hampshire would be nice. Then again, the Giuliani campaign is bucking conventional wisdom.

John Podhoretz sees Giuliani's current (perceived) weakness as being a function of McCain's strength.

Giuliani’s candidacy was made possible by McCain’s weaknesses, and when the McCain campaign seemed to implode in the middle of 2006 (running out of money, firing a campaign manager and longtime aides), he seemed poised to benefit strongly from it — as voters jumped off the McCain bandwagon, it would only make sense for them to jump on Giuliani’s. And they did. But it turned out Giuliani hit his rough patch in late November and early December, with unfavorable news stories reminding people of his complex marital history and the poor behavior of some of his allies. And so it is McCain who, as New Hampshire approaches, is benefiting from Giuliani’s weakness.

McCain’s shot at becoming the Republican nominee seems dependent on Giuliani fading very fast. And Giuliani’s shot seems dependent on McCain’s surge in New Hampshire proving to be a single-state phenomenon.

We really won't know if Giuliani's right until Florida.

UPDATE: More via memeorandum.

rudy giuliani.