Rudy leans conservative, backs right-wing candidate

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

May 19, 2006

ATLANTA - Rudolph Giuliani seems to be tacking right, ex-Christian Coalition chief Ralph Reed is tacking to the center and some opponents of both men think their surprising political alliance is, well, a little tacky.

Giuliani, a pro-gay rights, pro-gun control moderate who favors abortion rights and who has been twice divorced, headlined a fundraiser for Reed's campaign for Georgia lieutenant governor in an affluent Atlanta neighborhood yesterday.

"I've supported Republicans of all types," said Giuliani, who attended an under-the-radar fundraiser for Reed a year ago. "I believe Republicans should be a big tent ... On some of these social issues we have disagreements that are very broad [but] we're a broad party."

Addressing 300 diehard Republicans who paid a minimum of $1,000 a table at the Westin hotel, Giuliani told Reed, "You can count me as a friend and supporter who will do everything I can to get you elected."

But Reed pointedly refused to return the favor, declining three times after the event to say whether he'd back a Giuliani White House bid.

Giuliani mostly avoided hot-button social issues. Instead, his speech focused on cutting taxes, lowering government spending and praise for Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox.

Speaking to reporters later, the former mayor put a conservative spin to his longtime support of gay rights: "I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, that it should remain that way," he said. "But I also believe you should allow for protection of the legal rights of people who are gay and lesbian."

The Reed-Giuliani friendship, which began in 2002, has benefits for both. The former mayor badly needs to blunt opposition among religious conservatives and Reed, who is in a tough primary against a popular state senator, needs to burnish his image after it was disclosed he worked closely with disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Even though Reed introduced Giuliani as a "great conservative," their political differences are stark. Giuliani, who championed New York's domestic partnership law but opposes gay marriage, lived with a gay couple after he split with his second wife.

Reed, an apostle of family values, has long said homosexuality and unmarried sex are sinful, although he has downplayed those views recently.

"I understand what Rudy's doing," said Howard Koeppel, the openly gay businessman Giuliani lived with. "If he wants to run for president in 2008, it would be very good to get support from people like Reed."

But some Georgia conservatives don't see it that way. State Sen. Jeff Mullis, who backs Reed's GOP primary opponent Casey Cagle, said he respects the former mayor but thinks state Republicans would never support him.

Reed leads Cagle by a nose in polls, but has a whopping 45 percent negative rating among Georgia voters.

"Rudy Giuliani's values are not the values of Georgia," Mullis said, adding Reed's association with Abramoff could hurt Giuliani's law-and-order reputation.

"If I was Rudy Giuliani, I'd be cautious about associating with the Abramoff-Reed scandal."

Joey Loudermilk, a Columbus, Ga., attorney who attended the Reed event, said he'd vote for Giuliani in the 2008 general election, but wouldn't back him in a primary against an anti-abortion social conservative.

"If it's Rudy vs. Hillary Clinton, there's no doubt I'd vote for him," he added. "But not in the primary, no."