Rudolph Giuliani appealed to the center-ground of US politics on the polarizing issue of abortion, and restated his opposition to an early pullout from Iraq.
WASHINGTON: Republican presidential frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani on Sunday appealed to the center-ground of US politics on the polarizing issue of abortion, and restated his opposition to an early pullout from Iraq.
The former mayor of New York, who shot to global prominence after the September 11 attacks of 2001, staked out his own dislike of abortion but said he supported a woman's right to choose.
"I personally oppose it but I believe that that should be a choice that someone else gets to make," Giuliani, who is Roman Catholic, said on Sunday.
That is a stand that will almost certainly lose him votes from the Christian right in next year's primary elections to choose the Republican party's candidate to succeed President George W. Bush.
But Giuliani believes that his stand will resonate with most Americans, who polls show to be against rolling back the Supreme Court's landmark "Roe v Wade" ruling permitting abortion even if they personally oppose the practice.
He said he was trying "to broaden the base of the Republican party" as issues surrounding terrorism and the economy "are so important that we have to have the biggest outreach possible".
The former New York leader is also under fire from Christian conservatives over his moderate positions on gay marriage and gun control, and his personal life -- he has been married three times.
But Giuliani, who has pulled ahead of rival 2008 contender and Arizona Senator John McCain, said he should be judged on his record from the aftermath of 9/11 and for ridding New York of rampant crime and economic decline.
"Nobody's perfect. I've made mistakes in my life. I've prayed about them," he said. "In my case, you can judge me on my public record."
Giuliani again took on Democrats who want an early withdrawal from Iraq. The party in control of Congress is locked in battle with Bush over a war funding bill that the president has vowed to veto.
"Anybody proposing giving the enemy a timetable of our retreat is proposing something that is fundamentally irresponsible and something that is unheard of in the history of war," he said.
"And giving them a timetable of our retreat puts the troops there in jeopardy and it puts the whole strategy (against terrorism) in jeopardy."
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