[West Coast Conservative]

Jeb Bush/Condi Rice in 2008!

[expatpat]

Hmm....Not from a lib or rino source, either.

[Yardstick]

Frist, Guiliani, McCain, Other -- a pretty dismal list. I guess I would have picked Guiliani, too, given the choices. What's surprising is that the women "gushed" over him.

[Prime Choice]

Just what we need: wedge issues on who should run next just as we're trying to unify before Bush's inauguration.

Just more of the ol' brown-spoon stirring.

[LdSentinal]

Governor Tim Pawlenty if he wins in '06 or Senator John Thune.

[denydenydeny]

If we all do our jobs, the abortion issue will be resolved in this term with the appointment of as many as three Supreme Court justices and a bulletproof anti-PBA law. Given that environment I could very easily support Rudy, who would be an incredibly appealing candidate in blue states.

[bushisdamanin04]

Our primary concern for 2008 is that at this time our top "candidates" are all liberals. I can see us in '08 making the same mistake that we made in '88, when we began to abandon the Reagan revolution and relegate conservatives to the fringe. The strength of the GOP is the conservative base. GOP leaders would do well to accept this fact.

[Not A Snowbird]

I stopped what I was doing, repelled the audience, and then conducted a focus group.

LOL! I hope Hugh meant that he repolled the audience, not repelled.

[fix]

May God have mercy on us if that is the best list of candidates we can come up with. I will not participate in such nonsense next time around. Hillary can have the White House! I will not vote for Rudy or any of these other liberal trojans.

[ZGuy]

I listen to Hugh every day, but his approach -- "I favor the most conservative Republican in the primary most likely to win the general election. " bothers me because the "conservative" part always gets ignored and it has ALWAYS turned out to mean "I favor the most liberal Republican in the primary who has big numbers."

[My2Cents]

***Ping***

Very interesting.

[bruin66]

My first choice for a candidate would be someone who's actually been an executive: governor, mayor, etc. I have very little use for senators or representatives.

[tkathy]

Guiliani is the only one who IMO would virtually be a lock in 2008. The dims will commit collective hari kari. It will be glorious.

[Buckeye McFrog]

good lord...don't we get ANY break from Election Season anymore?

[graycamel]

There's only one good candidate for Pres.: Congressman Roy Blunt-R Springfield, MO (House Majority Whip)

[xkaydet65]

A local NYC note to Freepers wary, as I am, Of Rudy and abortion. NY State began to provide funds for all abortions under Medicaid while Hugh Carey was Governor. He actively pressed for this funding, and was the object of criticism frm the Catholic Church well before Geraldine Ferraro and Mario Cuomo. Along about 1992, long after Carey was out of offfice, a news story hit the local TV about a teen age girl who had died from an abortion her parents knew nothing about. The abortionist was licensed, the abortion legal under NY Law. Carey had an epiphany of outrage. He publicly recanted his support of abortion. Decried his having been a force for its acceptance. He incurred the wrath of the Fem groups, the Democratic Party and the Press. He held firm and still does.

The relationship. Both Carey and Rudy are Catholic educated guys from Brooklyn. The nuns and brothers' education leaves a mark. So does the neighborhood sense of right and wrong. I don't think it's too far a stretch for Rudy to come round, especially on late term, and to do so in a way that does not look transparent.

[Ancesthntr]

I have been telling anyone who will listen that I will actively work against anti-gun Rudy. If he somehow gets the nomination, lots of people down south and out west will be staying home on Election Day 2008.

[newfreep]

I sure hope a solid Reagan conservative emerges 'cuz the Hildebeast will win against the losers mentioned.

[JohnBDay]

George W. Bush got the nomination because he was the most conservative candidate who could win the general election. I would imagine the person who gets the 2008 nomination will have that same distinction.

[Patterico]

I am the Patterico mentioned in Hugh's column above. I have tried to start a debate on my blog and others regarding the philosophy of principled pragmatism that Hugh advocates in his book. (You can click on the "Patterico" link in the article to see my review of his book, and go here for all the posts on my blog on this topic.) I'd love to hear from some of the FReepers here, since I think you guys are typical of the sort of Republicans that Hugh addresses in his book.

Also, if you don't mind, it would be great if any of you who click over to my blog and like what you see would vote for me in the 2004 Weblog Awards. I am running a very close race with a liberal blog; after 5000+ votes, I am only about 5-6 votes behind. You can vote for me once a day per computer, at this link -- until Sunday, when the contest ends. Any support you guys could give me would be much appreciated. I'd hate to see a liberal win this contest . . .