In his quest for the Republican nomination for president, Rudy Giuliani is blessed by his reputation as the mayor who cleaned up crime and stood tall after 9/11 in New York City, but cursed by his past stances for gun control, gay rights, abortion rights and protection for illegal immigration.

So when he spoke to a crowd of Pinellas County Republicans Friday night, he wanted to shore up his credentials as an authentic Republican.

What better way to do that than by bashing “the media”?

Here’s his take on people who report news:

“Don’t let the media convince you of what they would like anyway, and that is the Republicans can’t win in 2008,” he said.

“The media,” he said, want a Democrat to win, and of course, any Democrat would be in favor of “appeasement and retreat” in the face of terrorism, and “more government spending, higher taxes, more government regulation, more government control, socialized medicine,” and opposed to cutting taxes as a way to pay for repairing the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.

But, he said, it’s a good thing the media are opposed to Republicans.

“If they ever become convinced we’re going to win we’ll be in trouble – we will have sacrificed our principles,” he said. “A majority of them don’t look at the world the way we do. ... I have absolutely no doubt that’s we’re going to win in 2008. The American people are not going to vote for retreat and weakness … for socialized medicine.”

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