Giuliani and Kerry

The MOJ "2008 rumble" is starting early!  To be clear:  I'm not a fan of Rudy Giuliani and would not vote for him (although, all things considered, I would prefer a Giuliani Administration to a Clinton, Obama, Edwards, or Gore Administration).  That said, I think a small caveat is warranted to Eduardo's anticipatory "gotcha!" directed at "prominent Catholic voices that questioned Kerry's Catholicism and the permissiblity of Catholics voting for him[.]"

Certainly, Giuliani should be criticized by "prominent Catholics" for adopting the positions he has adopted with respect to abortion.  (And, I'm confident that Eduardo and I will find that, when the times comes, he will be.)  Indeed, Giuliani's abortion-related positions are (almost) as extreme as those staked out by John Kerry (and every plausible 2008 Democratic candidate).  In each case, that a professed Catholic so brazenly and publicly embraces extremist pro-abortion-rights views is a scandal, and a shame. 

Still, it is not clear that a Giuliani Administration would be as thoroughgoingly hostile or damaging to the pro-life cause (and to the cause of protecting religious conscience and authentic religious freedom) as a Kerry Administration almost certainly would have been.  For example, it is not inappropriate, or hypocritical, for those who criticized Kerry to -- while strongly criticizing Giuliani -- take some comfort in the likelihood that Giuliani's judicial nominations might be less likely to invalidate reasonable regulations of abortion (or religion-inclusive school-choice plans) than judges appointed by Kerry would have been (or than judges appointed by President Obama probably would be).