Times Square Nation: Rudy Giuliani and the Saturn-Uranus Opposition

I can think of several ways that the Saturn-Uranus opposition could play out in the 2008 election:

1. The U.S. elects its first woman president or its first African-American president—a revolution against the entire timeline of white male American political history.

2. A less-favored, surprising, underdog candidate wins—the Truman scenario (Uranus upsets Saturn). I have followed with interest the recent dust-up over Representative Dennis Kucinich’s omission from an ABC debate photo (even though a post-debate poll showed he won) concurrent with his coming out on top in a “blind taste test” poll (which polled people on issues, not candidates). Twilight's Learning Curve on the Ecliptic blog has a very good post on Dennis Kucinich, which includes his horoscope.

3. A third party candidate proves somehow decisive, either winning or causing the victory of another candidate (again, Uranus upsets Saturn).

4. Another possibility simply has to do with the election process itself—the Saturn-Uranus opposition will be exact on election day—through another thwarted popular vote victory, serious electronic voting machine issues, or an electoral college crisis. The legitimacy of the national election may be challenged. There is already a possibility that California will split its electoral votes proportionally, instead of the popular vote winner getting all the state’s electoral votes. Because a Democrat is almost certain to win a majority of California’s popular vote, this would throw a new kink into the whole election process and greatly favor a Republican (who would end up getting perhaps 40-45%, instead of 0%, of the largest state’s electoral votes). On election day, Saturn will be closing in on the U.S. Neptune (confusion, illusion, behind-the-scenes stuff).

5. Finally, electoral victory might go to the candidate who vows to restore order to a nation gone wild (Saturn puts the cuffs on Uranus and forces him to do a perp walk to the national squad car). This is where Giuliani comes in.

Looking at the current U.S. presidential polls, I have been puzzled as to why Rudy Giuliani remains the GOP favorite. Giuliani is pro-abortion, pro-gun control, thrice-married, and his own children are supporting other candidates. I assumed that conservatives would have a big problem with most of that. I also figured that by this time voters would have been able to see through all Giuliani’s transparent 9/11 chest-thumping. But Giuliani’s support remains strong, even among many conservatives. A big reason for this is pointed out in Time Magazine’s recent story on Giuliani:

Giuliani says he understands terrorism "better than anyone else running for President," and he certainly talks about it more than anyone else. "Basically, what he's selling is, 'As dangerous a world as this is, I can make it safer,'" says GOP pollster Frank Luntz. So far, it seems to be working. Giuliani has been the consistent front runner of the Republican candidates in most national polls through August.

Although I shudder at the idea of a Giuliani presidency, I believe the broad-stroke astrology (Saturn-Uranus opposition and Pluto in Capricorn) does support the possibility of a strong law-and-order type candidate getting elected president. With Senator McCain running a greatly reduced campaign that is only a shadow of his 2000 effort, Giuliani has to be considered the Republican to beat for the GOP nomination. His poll numbers have been unwaveringly strong, although not in Iowa or New Hampshire where Mitt Romney has spent millions of his own dollars on TV ads. (Note to Ron Paul and Mitt Romney partisans, if there are any who read my blog: anything’s possible in 2008, but this particular blog’s about Giuliani). Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee got some momentum out of the recent Iowa straw poll (in which Giuliani did not participate) and Senator Sam Brownback is pushing his conservative credentials. But Giuliani’s stayed on top of the polls.

The wild card is Fred Thompson, who has yet to declare his candidacy, but would fulfill the yearning of many GOP voters for a true conservative who looks like a president and is well-known enough—largely through his acting role on Law and Order, although he was also a senator—to win.

There is another reason why Giuliani is doing so well in the polls, as explained in a new article—“The Mayberry Man”—in Giuliani’s hometown magazine, The New Yorker. The lengthy New Yorker article delves deeply into the realities behind Giuliani’s carefully crafted image. However, according to the article, Giuliani’s front-runner status is not really due to 9/11. It’s because he cleaned up New York, making it safe for tourists. He helped transform Times Square, made the subways secure, got control over homeless squeegee men, and stood up to the liberal New York media (Giuliani is good friends with FOX News president Roger Ailes and has now become a favorite of that conservative news outlet). New York is thus viewed by many GOP voters as a metaphor or microcosm: If elected, Giuliani—a former federal prosecutor— could “Saturnize” the nation (and presumably the world) just like he did in New York. This would also be in keeping with Pluto’s entry into Capricorn. Giuliani's Saturn is at the exact midpoint of the U.S. Sibly Venus and Mars, indicating social control.

Giuliani has a Mars-Pluto power conjunction in Leo and a Sun-Uranus conjunction in Gemini (see horoscope, although his birth time is not known so we can’t know his Ascendant or any of the house cusps). The conjunction of the Sun and Uranus does show his potential for strong leadership in emergency situations, although many of his 9/11 actions have since been inflated by him or have been called into question. Saturn will be squaring Giuliani’s Sun-Uranus conjunction during the February state primaries, so his candidacy may begin to dim around that time.