Moment of Truth

Mitt and Rudy have ducked the Iraq issue, but they'll soon be forced to take a stand. That could hurt

Eric Thayer / Reuters

Republican presidential candidates former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, left and Mitt Romney, right, stand before a debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on August 5, 2007.

Next time you listen to Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani, the two announced Republican front runners for 2008, try playing this game: count how many times they use some variation of Sept. 11, terrorism or jihad. Then count how many times they utter the word Iraq. When Romney gave a foreign policy speech at Yeshiva University in April, the score was 19 to 3. In an address at the Citadel in May, Giuliani's score was 35 to 2.

Here's what is happening: Republican voters, the folks Romney and Giuliani need to win over, want their party's nominee to be as tough as...

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