[GraceCoolidge]

I agree wholeheartedly with sitetest's post. You do, however, raise the very difficult question of what to do if the choice is Giuliani vs. Hillary. Does one go against core beliefs by voting for Giuliani in order to prevent the far worse result of President Hillary Clinton? Or is it better to let one election go, even to Hillary Clinton, in the hope of advancing your principles over the long haul? I do wrestle with that question. The problem I have in voting for Giuliani is that I think it very much weakens social conservative positions long term by showing that you can be socially liberal and still get the conservative vote (if your opponent is even further left). Of course, Hillary Clinton as President is nearly unthinkable.

It's a tough issue. I'm not trying to debate Giuliani's strengths and weaknesses here, just trying to figure out what is the principled course of action for those voters who find his social views abhorrent. Do we vote for him on the theory that he's still better than Hillary? Or do we not vote, on the theory that even defeating Hillary Clinton does not justify the long term damage that a Giuliani victory would inflict on our beliefs? It is a difficult decision. I don't think, however, that it is going to come to that point. I just don't see Giuliani as the nominee. Of course, I also insisted that New York voters would see through Hillary Clinton, that she could never win a Senate seat... so what do I know!

[sitetest]

Dear GraceCoolidge,

I understand your predicament, however, I'm not so nearly torn as you are.

As much as I dislike Mrs. Clinton, I'm unwilling to permit the Republicans to force me to vote for an otherwise entirely unacceptable candidate by holding me hostage to possibility of another Clinton presidency (shudder).

I'm a card-carrying Republican, and I'll vote in the primaries, and give vociferous support to the leading candidate who best mirrors my own views. There are many possible candidates for whom I could vote in the general election, if they were to get the nomination. Mr. Giuliani is one of the few who do not qualify for my vote.

But should the rest of the party choose to leave folks like me in the dust, well, hey, that's how politics works sometimes. But we should have learned from the crack-up of the post-WWII Democrat coalition that if you leave parts of your coalition behind, they'll eventually go elsewhere.


sitetest