It's Getting Hot In Herre

Rudy Giuliani probably would have been able to keep this out of the papers in a general election environment, but when you have Republican ratfuckers circling around in the other campaigns, there was no way.

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in his campaign appearances this year has stated that he personally abhors abortion, even though he supports keeping a legal right to choose. But records show that in the '90s he contributed money at least six times to Planned Parenthood, one of the country's leading abortion rights groups and its top provider of abortions.

Federal tax returns made public by the former New York mayor show that he and his then-wife, Donna Hanover, made personal donations to national, state and city chapters of Planned Parenthood totaling $900 in 1993, 1994, 1998 and 1999.

The returns have been on the public record for years, but the detail about Giuliani's support for Planned Parenthood -- along with e-mailed copies of the returns -- was provided to The Politico by aides to a rival campaign, who insisted on not being identified.

I've already heard three conservative commentators, referencing Giuliani's statement that he "hates" abortion, explain that "I wouldn't give money to fund something that I hate."

This is only the beginning. The Republican nomination is very up for grabs, which means it's going to get 40 kinds of ugly. That didn't happen in 2000 because Bush was the only one with the money and the mean streak to cut the hearts out of his rivals. You can bet that everybody will do it this year, because victory is so up for grabs. The winner of the Republican nomination will almost certainly be damaged goods. And how couldn't they be? They're a collection of unprincipled pander bears who will do anything to get elected and run away from their record.