I guess the 2008 race is a big switch for the GOP — it will not be able to rely on the old “flip-flop” fiddle that was played against Kerry when you’ve got two winners like Mitt and Rudy today falling all over themselves with multiple switches of positions to court The Base. (Boston Globe):

A campaign aide told the Globe this weekend that Giuliani favors a much more modest set of rights for gay partners than civil union laws in effect in four states offer.

Giuliani has described himself as a backer of civil unions and is frequently described that way in news reports. But he began distancing himself from civil unions in late April, when his campaign told The New York Sun that New Hampshire’s new law goes too far because it is “the equivalent of marriage,” which he has always opposed for gays.

Giuliani’s aides offered little explanation of what specific rights he would support for same-sex couples.

What Giuliani did say in April is that he supports the domestic partnership law model that was set up in NY, which created a DP registry that assisted same-sex and opposite sex couples obtain partner benefits. And he said this about it before his latest conversion.

“Marriage should be a man and a woman…I think that the domestic partnership legislation in NY has worked very, very well. I think that’s a good way to deal with it, and I think that would be a good model for other states to have. Some places call them domestic partnerships, some states call it civil unions, and I think that would be the best way to deal with it.

The ridiculous inconsistency of his stance on this issue is that he’s been a states’ rights advocate, but is now bleating about the horror of New Hampshire and other states deciding to offer civil unions. So which civil rights and benefits of marriage does he support for gays and lesbians? Who knows — what we do know is the pandering has no limit.

“It’s really disappointing he’s stepped back from his position on civil unions,” said Joe Tarver, spokesman for the Empire State Pride Agenda, a group that advocates for gay rights in New York state that worked with and against Giuliani on a number of issues during his eight years as mayor.

Calling the former mayor’s shifting stance “pretty un-Giuliani-like,” Tarver said: “It’s quite obvious he’s playing to the people whose votes he needs to get the Republican nomination.”

And so who will the Log Cabinettes support in 2008, now that all of the candidates are either clearly anti-gay, or in Giuliani case, running away as fast as he can after drop kicking gays (today, anyway).

H/t, Towleroad.

Also:
* Listen to lying adulterer Giuliani on OutQ radio supporting civil unions
* Giuliani now opposes civil unions
* Will the real Rudy please stand up?
* Rudy’s civil union flip-flop doesn’t wash with the Freepi