Posted on 12/12/2005 6:18:32 AM PST by areafiftyone
Sen. John McCain is preparing for a 2008 showdown with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who so far who leads him in the presidential race according to most polls.
While the two men remain personally friendly, sharing dinner recently at a Manhattan bistro, Newsday reports that McCain's team is monitoring Giuliani's every move - including keeping track of how much face time the former mayor gets on TV.
Meanwhile, McCain insiders aren't shy about trashing the former mayor's presidential prospects.
"In my humble opinion, Rudy wouldn't get out of the gate," longtime McCain strategist John Dennehy tells the paper. Dennehy helped engineer the Arizona senator's 2000 primary win in New Hampshire.
Some openly suggest that the man dubbed "America's mayor" for his stellar performance after the 9/11 attacks may eventually end up working for McCain. "I think Rudy would make an attractive secretary of state or secretary of defense in a McCain administration," said former McCain aide Marshall Wittmann.
McCainiacs have good reason to be concerned. A recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll showed Giuliani would win the coming primary battle, beating McCain, 34 percent to 31 percent.
Another problem for the Arizona maverick: 20 percent of Republicans said they wouldn't vote for McCain under any circumstances. Only 8 percent said the same thing about Giuliani.
Meanwhile, survey after survey shows that while both men could beat likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Giuliani's margin of victory is almost always greater.
Team McCain intends to counter the former mayor's advantage by painting their man as the rightful heir to president Bush's conservative mantle, and by focusing on Giuliani's liberal positions on abortion, gay rights and gun control.
"The difficulty for Rudy, and it's huge, is that he's pro-choice, and Republican primary voters will never pick anybody who doesn't oppose abortion - period," Wittmann told Newsday.
Team McCain seems to realize that it doesn't have time to waste when it comes to getting the jump on Giuliani.
The senator's political organization is moving full speed ahead into campaign mode and has "steadily expanded [into] a national team of hundreds of political professionals and volunteers," Newsday says.
McCain's people are keeping such a close eye on their main rival that they're even monitoring "how many minutes of network airtime Giuliani gets compared with their man."
They're also on the alert for any indication that the former mayor is beginning his own campaign, with McCain aides routinely checking their contacts around the country for signs of Giuliani activity.
Meanwhile, even as "America's Mayor" routinely outpolls McCain nationally, Newsday says his organization remains so small it "could fit comfortably into a minivan."
And while Giuliani himself says he won't make a decision till 2007, some of his aides say they're not sure he even wants to enter the race.
Referring to the scrutiny that forced his former police commissioner, Bernard Kerik, to withdraw his nomination for Homeland Security Czar, one Giuliani insider tells Newsday: "Does he really want to go through that, too? My gut tells me he's not going to run."
Both men are liberal RINO's and I want neither on a Republican ticket .
To keep hillary out of office, i would vote for either rudy, john, condi. I dont see any other republicans popular enough to take on hillary. If republicans want to keep control of the white house in '08, your gonna have to vote for whoever wins the primary.
Treachery should bear a high price.
Few people could convince me to sit home on election day. McCain comes close. I do not want him on the ticket.
Dance of the RINOs. No thank you.
Dem Lite.
In 2008, the base will be especially important because there will be a serious primary race on the Democrats side, so few of them will be tempted to cross over and muddy the waters. Pro-Choicer Giuliani is not capable of exciting the base because of his domestic liberalism (pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, who're we kidding?) McCain comes across to the base as a cranky self-centered show-boater who can't play Team Ball. While some of his views are Republican conservative, he operates like a Democrat Senator, and it is not fragrant to the base.
A lot of peole might be comfortable with Giulian at DoD or SecState or even as Veep, but top of the ticket is not in the cards for Rudy.
I agree 100%.
So...that said....who's it going to be for the GOP in 2008?
"I will not vote for McCain under any circumstance."
Same feelings here.
My choices based on 1-10 grading:
Buchanan 9
Tancredo 8
Giuliani 6
McCain 4
Rice .5
This is one of those stories that refuses to die. Rudy who? and mcpain (media Az) might square off somewhere in some forum, but not in Republican primaries. Maybe Rudy who? can join the Media Party if mcpain lets him. Maybe that's where they could "square off".
Rudy who? is a suppoter of gay "marrige" and Partial Birth Abortion. He can't win a Republican primary. mcpain just won't accept that he is hated in the GOP. He couldn't draw flys in one of our primaries. This is a stupid story.
There is a saying: "When RINOs clash, the grass gets trampled."
I hope they clash for the Democrat nomination. Both of these guys will not win the Republican primary. If for some reason, McCain were to win the Republican nomination it will be another Bob Dole performance. I can see the media now ready to dump out McCain's medical records 2 weeks before the election making the American electorate seem like he will be dying any day.
Hopefully we will see a "white knight" come along to rescue this party from the RINOS. McCain and Guiliani are not good for this nation.
Buchanan? Are you kidding. He will not win. Didn't he run before and receive like hardly any votes. Can't see this one. Hillary would win for sure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.