It is true that Hugh Hewitt is not a Lib or a RINO, but he is a man who thinks it is better to put loyalty to the GOP ahead of loyalty to conservative principle. For example, during the California recall he was a big backer of Arnold and was unsparing toward those who backed the more qualified, more intelligent, and much more conservative candidate for governor, State Senator Tom McClintock.
As for 2008, I sure do hope that a better candidate than those three emerges. Rudy is a liberal on social issues and a hyper-liberal on immigration. McCain seems to think his base is the press. Frist is a nice guy and fairly conservative, but he's a dull cipher. I think nominating any of these guys would be a disaster.
Hewitt's a pragmatist. I think he would say that without the GOP, there is no real hope for the conservative agenda, politically.
I wouldn't be suprised if Giuliani changed some of his positions on some social issues for the base. In order to win in NYC, even Repubs have to be more leberal than elsewhere.
Would Giuliani be a little more acceptable if he altered a few of his positions?
I would vote for Giuliani in a heartbeat. He did wonders for NYC.
He threw Arafat out of the UN during a party because he's a terrorist and he told the Saudis to stuff their check after the 9/11 attack. Giuliani took on the mob.
He has cajones the size of the Jupiter's moons...
IMHO the field should be reduced to governors who are strong vote getters and like Bush on judges. I'd give Guiliani a pass on the governor bit, since NYC is more populous than many or most states - but not on judges.The other two, Frist and McCain, aren't governors but legislators and shouldn't be considered - and I certainly don't want an author of McCain-Feingold naming judges.
Guiliani has been going around the country stumping for Bush, and in the process has undoubtedly amassed a strong base of chits he can call in in a run for the nomination. But my humble opinion is that there are governors out there who we could trust to name good judges - just none that are presently considered on the A-list. And at this time 8 years ago GWB was nothing like a shoo-in for the Republican nomination.
One of the best, if not the best, credentials of any Republican governor is that of the brother of the sitting president. Florida has not had a president come out of it yet, and it is a swing state which would not be in doubt if he were on the national ticket.
As to being the president's brother and the former president's son, what is that? Doesn't make him foreign-born, or a felon, or under the age of 35 years, does it? Do we pass on someone who has everything else we want, just because his name isn't "anyone but Bush"? Frankly, I don't see it. He says he won't run. If he doesn't, he would be the heaviest VP nominee I can remember, with serious appeal to the base and to Hispanics.