Posted on 07/07/2006 7:32:14 AM PDT by chiller
Twenty-eight months to go, and I can't wait.
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Since Condi insists she isn't interested - and for the moment I believe her - speculation ranges from base-pleasing Republicans like Sens. Bill Frist, Sam Brownback and my current favorite, George Allen, to the intriguing prospects of envelope-pushers like John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.
And these two intriguing figures constitute my point of the day. There are two things I have stopped saying: first, Mr. McCain can't win, and second, Rudy won't run.
I still don't believe Mr. McCain will be the '08 nominee, but his loyal support for the war has healed some distaste that the GOP base has had for him since he challenged Mr. Bush six years ago. His disconnect with many Republicans on overhauling campaign finance is still an anvil around his prospects, but I can no longer write him off.
As for Mr. Giuliani, I used to say that he won't run and couldn't win if he did. The gay-friendly, abortion-rights-supporting ex-New York mayor whose legacy includes an embrace of gun control? It would seem highly unlikely.
Unless you were in a room with me at the Hotel Crescent Court last month as the Dallas County Republican Party welcomed Mr. Giuliani to a fundraiser also heralding local congressional candidates.
I served as master of ceremonies, and there was a thoroughly polite welcome for the GOP primary survivors who will try to unseat Reps. Eddie Bernice Johnson and Chet Edwards.
But it was Mr. Giuliani who put a room of Reagan-loving red-staters into a positive swoon.
He did it with steadfast support for the Bush war doctrine, coupled with a passion for tight borders that even the still-admired incumbent cannot muster. He did it with strong fiscal conservatism, another Bush weakness. And he did it with a passionate pitch for school choice, an issue Republicans have neglected - mysteriously, since scads of Republicans and Democrats want it.
His content was great. His style was even better. His sharp wit and off-the-cuff comfort are miles beyond the average glazed, scripted politician. He sports a good-natured partisan streak that puts him a head above Mr. McCain, who seems to gag on any sentence suggesting that a Democrat might be wrong.
This is not my prediction that Mr. Giuliani's hand will rest on a Bible at the swearing-in on Jan. 20, 2009. But the Bible-embracing core of the GOP shows a willingness to consider him as he includes evangelical groups in his curious tour of various Republican constituencies.
He will not launch a national gun grab, leaving gun statutes to the cities. He will not push for nationwide gay marriage, happy to leave those decisions to the states, where the Constitution says they belong. He will not pound the bully pulpit for affirmative action, leaving that to the courts.
And speaking of the courts, he speaks glowingly of Mr. Bush's Supreme Court selections, Samuel Alito and John Roberts, suggesting he does not necessarily dream of packing the court with sure-fire abortion-rights opponents.
Throw in the tasty imagery of the Mayor of America wiping the debate stage floor with Mrs. Clinton or virtually anyone else, and it's the kind of thing to make a Republican heart quicken.
I don't know yet whether I can be a Rudy voter, but I'd enjoy watching him try to make me one.
Mark Davis is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. The Mark Davis Show is heard weekdays nationwide on the ABC Radio Network. His e-mail address is mdavis@wbap.com.
You forgot to call for a plague of locusts to descend upon us all.
Maybe Irish can juxtapose Allen's record on all of the above with Sir Rudy's?
Yup - I voted for Perot and got Bill Clinton. I'll never do that again!
I will NEVER vote for a pro-abortion politician. If he's recently seen the light, it's too late in the game for pro-lifers to reasonably trust him.
The more densely populated an area is, the higher the % of government spending.
A rural area does not need mass transit, sewer systems, water systems, etc. In addition, closer proximity means more disputes w/ neighbors and more crime.
Along with the higher % of government spending in a city like NYC is a much higher rate of economic activity per square mile than in Wyoming.
Hence it is not surprising that local government is more important in a large city than in a rural state or county. That also explains why the 'Rats do better in the cities and the 'Pubs in the country. The 'Burbs are split.
A minimalist mayor would not work in NYC. An activist mayor would not make a good sheriff in rural America.
But some people think one size fits all. Whatever.
Me -- I like rural and urban America, and I live in the 'Burbs.
Let's face it folks, if we can't find anyone to swear in as one to "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" who can't avoid wiping their derrierre with at least one of the First 10 Amendments, we might as well become card carrying jackasses right now.
No Rudy, No way.
Given the nature of liberal Republicans and socialist Democrats, a plague of locusts would be redundant.
New York City is more similar to a Third World sh!t-hole than a bastion of capitalism. You either have a lot of money in this town, or you don't have any. But you'll never starve no matter how poor you are, because this city has social services and taxpayer-funded financial support for every misfit and dysfunctional creature who washes up in the harbor.
The sheer energy, desire to succeed, and capitalistic fervor of New York's peoples (even the immigrants from Africa) has to be seen to be believed. Its not the government that runs the businesses in New York.
The "capitalistic fervor of New York's peoples" is a function of the city's chaotic environment and unwillingness to admit that a huge number of these immigrants have no business being here in the U.S. Most of these hard-working immigrants oeprate in a black market economy that has nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with a social order that is collapsing before our eyes.
You might consider the Chinese guy selling pirated CDs on a street corner to have "capitalistic fervor," but I sure as hell don't. In fact, I find it bizarre that anyone could even keep a straight face while using such a term to describe someone who sells stolen goods at a "retail site" on a government-operated right-of-way. And I'd say the same thing about the bodega owner who hasn't filed a W-2 form in years, the African immigrant who contracted anthrax a couple of months ago from the animal skins he was importing (illegally) for the bongo drums he was producing in his basement, etc.
Your objection makes no sense. The choice of a RINO is essentially voting for and electing a democrat. Who gives a hoot whether or not he/she has an (R) behind his name?
Dubya has done more to expand big government and what is becoming a police state than Clinton ever dreamed of.
Excuse me sir, but we are at war.
We went through all that before.
You don't live in New York.
Don't see why you feel the need to keep up this ridiculous charade.
But hey, you have your own burdens to carry I suppose.
LOL. I can assure you that there's nothing about New York City that would motivate me to pretend I live here. I'd just as soon pretend to be a child molester.
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