Romney's Three-legged Stool and Rudy's "I Never Emphasize Those Things."

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Romney has spoken often about his three-legged stool: strong military, strong economy, and strong families. Here's an article about his stool and a video accompanying it. Very well done.

Furthermore, Charles Mitchell at Evangelicals for Mitt (EFM) has some strong words for Giuliani on the subject of strong families:

Relatedly, I note that Mayor Giuliani is trying to claim that he is a "pro-family" candidate too, on the basis of his work to clean up Times Square and so forth. I don't like saying this, but if the Mayor wants to vie for the title of being pro-family, he's asking for it: You can't be pro-family if you're only pro-other people's families.

Cleaning up Times Square is great; I'm glad he and his police commissioner did it. But Americans are sick and tired of politicians, especially Republicans, going on about protecting the American family when they haven't lived out those values themselves. And that sick-and-tiredness has only been multiplied by, well, recent news about Mayor Giuliani's own surrogates. (That will be all I have to say about that.) To be credible on these issues in 2008, we need a candidate who has lived out family values--in public and in private.

Look--in a pinch, I'd vote for Mayor Giuliani over Senator Clinton. It's a no-brainer. But by claiming to be credible by virtue of his actions as politician, Mayor Giuliani only invites people to be reminded of how un-credible these latest professions are in light of his actions as a husband and father. Even worse, his claims aren't even credible in light of his political record. As my wife aptly points out from the other side of the room, can one even be "pro-other people's families," to use my earlier term, when one is pro-abortion? Not likely.

Mayor Giuliani should quit pretending to be something he isn't. The reality is, Governor Romney is the only serious candidate who has established his pro-family bona fides both in the home and in the office.

Charles is right on. Nice work!

A few words from Giuliani himself about his tendency to emphasize family-related matters:

Giuliani also brushed aside efforts by former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to portray himself as the ultimate family man by releasing a video of a family vacation filled with scenes of giggling grandchildren.

"He has a right to emphasize the things he wants to emphasize," Giuliani told The Washington Post after a speech on energy policy in San Francisco. "I never emphasize those things."

And why not? If that's how you are, Rudy, why would we expect you to be much of an advocate for family-related issues?


Update: Among Repulican candidates for President, Rudy raised the most money in "gay" ZIP codes areas. Most conservatives likely don't see that as a strong reflection of his family values.