I thought about our exchange today and I forgot to mention one thing," The Rudy Factor" Rudy could be a steamroller in all of this, Rudy is liked by our base more than McCain and from my calculations 10 to 20% of swing Democrats.
I admire Rudy's executive abilities and his courage, and would prefer him over McCain in a New York minute.
However, we were discussing 'conservatives' to support. And Rudy is a moderate (had to be to be elected in New York), with a messy personal history. Neither fact is popular with the conservative base.