Eyes on New Hampshire: Giuliani On The Patriot Act

It's post-Thanksgiving and six weeks until the New Hampshire primary, so the battle for the hearts and minds of independent-minded New Englanders has moved into high gear. On the stump this weekend, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said that it would be "irresponsible" to "[cut] back on the Patriot Act."

He specifically criticized "talking about cutting back on electronic surveillance, talking about cutting back on aggressive questioning -- not torture, but aggressive questioning -- wanting to remove our soldiers from Iraq in a way that would require them to give the enemy a time table of their retreat."

Welcome to Bush III, just with a different last name.

Has the candidate forgotten the official (since 1945) moto of New Hampshire? Reminder: it's Live Free or Die. [The quote -- "Live Free Or Die; Death Is Not The Worst Of Evils" -- is attributed to New Hampshire General John Stark, the state's "most noted hero of the American War of Independence."]

Giuliani trails Mitt Romney in the polls. His position is in stark contrast to that of Libertarian Republican candidate Ron Paul, whose political rhetoric more closely matches that New Englander stay-out-of-my-business philosophy.

The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.

Giuliani's position is also in stark contrast to that of founder Thomas Jeferson:

I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.

In playing catch-up, Giuliani is spending $700,000 on ads in NH over the next few weeks, according to campaign manager Mike DuHaime.

Also, see Wall Street bombing provokes fear of foreign born extremists ... in 1920.