One day after knocking [1] Giuliani's 9-11 leadership, reporter Marc Santora teamed with Dalia Sussman to focus on another purported weak point of Giuliani's candidacy - his support for abortion - in Tuesday's "Voters [2]See Strengths and Flaws in Giuliani, Poll Finds [2]," based on the findings ofa recentNew York Times/CBS News poll.
The Times twice reminded its readership that Giuliani supports abortion rights and pondered whether or not Republicans know it.
"Nearly half of Republican primary voters in the poll did not know Mr. Giuliani's position on abortion - he supports abortion rights - suggesting that he could be vulnerable among conservatives because of his positions on social issues. And many voters said that Mr. Giuliani's experience as mayor of New York City, which he consistently trumpets, limited his ability to understand their needs and concerns and was not as good a background for the presidency as having been a governor or a senator."
But later in the story the Times used the samefigures to suggest Republicans are aware of Giuliani's pro-choice stance.
"And he still faces a formidable challenge in winning over conservative voters who are leery of his positions on some social issues, like abortion and same-sex marriage.
"Mr. Giuliani supports abortion rights, and about half of Republican primary voters are aware of that. More specifically, about 6 in 10 conservative Republican primary voters, who overwhelmingly favor tightening or eliminating abortion rights, know where Mr. Giuliani stands on the issue."
So Giuliani is vulnerable because conservatives don't know he's pro-choice - and because they do know it?