So why is Rudy skipping the YouTube debate?

A rival campaign has sent Election Central a collection of Rudy Giuliani's greatest YouTube hits. The idea is to show that the real reason Rudy is threatening to bail on the YouTube debate is because there's too much video ammo from his past that could be used against him by citizens asking tough questions.

As noted below, the rival campaign earlier today sent us a bunch of YouTubes of Mitt Romney in order to make the same argument.

Now the rival campaign has done the same thing again, this time for Rudy. The only Republicans who have agreed to participate in the debate so far are John McCain and Ron Paul.

The YouTubes being circulated of Rudy detail Rudy's pro-Roe v. Wade stance, his positions in favor of gun control, campaign-finance reform, gun control, gays in the military, etc. At one point he even jokingly says he'd like to win the Democratic ballot line in New York's fusion system!

Videos after the jump. Enjoy.

Rudy's Greatest Hits:

Rudy in 1989, saying there must be public funding for abortions:

And here's Rudy standing by it as recently as this past April:

A 1989 ad for Rudy's first Mayoral campaign, featuring his then-wife Donna Hanover (from whom he's now divorced, having infamously announced their separation at a press conference):

Rudy in 1995, bemoaning the national Republican Party's position against gun control, boasting of how gun control laws can help accomplish a drop in crime, and blasting the National Rifle Association for opposing the assault-weapons ban, which he called "instruments of mass destruction":

Rudy in 1997, calling reliance on the Second Amendment "an overstated argument":

Rudying during his short-lived Senate campaign in 2000, saying he opposes a ban on partial-birth abortion:

Rudy calling for registration of all handguns during the 2000 Senate race, and praising Bill Clinton's proposal on the subject, demanding a uniform federal law passed by Congress, and saying he's held this position since at least 1980:

Rudy in 2001, wishing Congress would pass some gun control legislation:

And finally, here's our own addition: Rudy yelling "bullshit" to a 1992 police demonstration about then-Mayor David Dinkins' proposal for a civilian review board to investigate complaints of police brutality in the post-Rodney King environment: