Thread: Ex-N.Y. mayor lauds Schwarzenegger in Silicon Valley talk

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'100%' in president race, Giuliani tells tech group
Ex-N.Y. mayor lauds Schwarzenegger in Silicon Valley talk
Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Tuesday, February 13, 2007


Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, insisting he is "100 percent committed" to running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, wooed Silicon Valley's tech leaders Monday -- saying he "definitely'' believes in global warming, praising Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for being a "progressive'' leader on the environment and calling for immigration policies that welcome "people who make contributions" to America's economy.

Giuliani spoke to about 500 members of the Churchill Club, a Silicon Valley business leaders organization, at the Hyatt in Santa Clara Monday, meeting privately beforehand with a handful of top tech executives and then with about 100 potential supporters at a VIP reception before an hourlong talk to the crowd, where he was warmly received as a leading presidential hopeful.

"I am 100 percent committed'' to running for the Republican party nomination for president, he told the crowd. "I still have to do a formal announcement -- but we'll figure out how to do that.''

The former New York mayor, in his informal address to the Churchill Club, strode before the audience with no notes and a microphone, tackled issues that ranged from a defense of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war and the war on terror to the challenges of the global economy. But he also took positions on the environment and immigration which -- while posing potential problems with conservative Republicans on the right -- are likely to endear him to the moderate high-tech crowd courted by candidates on both sides as a potential source of big campaign dollars.

"I do believe there's global warming, yes,'' said Giuliani, in response to reporters' questions following his talk to the Churchill Club. "The big question has always been how much of it is happening because of natural climate changes and how much of it is happening because of human intervention.''

But "the overwhelming number of scientists now believe that there is significant human cause,'' he said, adding the debate on the existence of global warming "is almost unnecessary ... because we should be dealing with pollution anyway.''

He also delivered a sharp jab at former Vice President Al Gore, saying his Academy Award-nominated documentary about global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth,'' serves to "frighten people ... but it doesn't really recommend solutions,'' such as nuclear power.

Giuliani, who met with Schwarzenegger for more than an hour in the past weekend -- and discussed the issue of climate change with him -- said Monday he was unfamiliar with all the details of the governor's landmark bill to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2010. But, "I generally agree with Gov. Schwarzenegger,'' he said. "He's a good friend and a progressive leader.''

Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's communications director, said Monday that Giuliani's comments underscore how efforts in California led by Schwarzenegger have meant that "the issue of global warming is no longer a Democratic issue only ... but a Republican issue as well.' ''

With California legislators now fast-tracking legislation to move the state primary up four months to Feb. 5, 2008, there are already signals that Giuliani plans an aggressive campaign in the nation's most populous state, where he will vie with top-tier GOP challengers Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for money and support.

Giuliani will return to California next month when his major backers, including former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich and former GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon, are planning a $2,300-a-head fundraiser in Los Angeles. Giuliani also plans a major fundraiser for March 23 in San Francisco, sources said.

Giuliani's wide-ranging talk included his views on immigration -- a critical issue in Silicon Valley, where many business leaders have argued that they must be able to hire and import highly educated and trained workers from countries like India to meet the needs of a growing tech economy.

He said America must balance its need for security -- "we need to know who's here'' -- with its own tradition of welcoming immigrants. "If we (turn) this into a country where nobody wants to come, well, that's a real problem,'' he said. "We need talented people. We need to figure out how to do our security properly.''

Giuliani earned some of the biggest applause of the day when he stressed that foreign workers "make big contributions" to Silicon Valley, and the message should be "we need them, we want them ... we always have in the past.''

But, asked about the unpopularity of the United States among its allies in Europe, Giuliani talked tough, saying America should not bow to what he suggested was a weak European response to terrorism.

E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.

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This article appeared on page A - 4 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Neither one of these governors tell the truth about what is going on. both are social liberals which seem to have taken over the Republican party in force.