Posted on 07/07/2006 7:32:14 AM PDT by chiller
Twenty-eight months to go, and I can't wait.
( edit )
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.
The RATS are too stupid to nominate a moderate, and we don't have to.
An electable conservative like Allen will give voters a clear choice, and they will vote for that choice over any RAT making noises about running.
The only problem is that the globalist republicans are NOT conservatives.
They would be happier with the Witch than a Tom Tancredo.
EXCERPT If not for 9/11, would Guiliani be as revered as he is today? Would he have a shot at the presidency?
Considering the battered state of Guiliani in the months prior to 9/11 -- his battle with prostate cancer, his public divorce and affair with his nurse, the police brutality trials, his attack on the Brooklyn Museum for an installation he deemed offensive – the obvious answer is “no.”
A year prior to 9/11, an article in Salon.com claimed Guiliani should not be credited for New York City’s drastic turn-around under his reign.
“Like Richard Nixon, he is one of those odd figures that politics gives rise to from time to time, who preside over tumultuous events but are by themselves too puny to become grand figures in the political imagination. There’s no vision to Guiliani, no largeness of spirit, and there is cunning, which is not the same thing as bravery.” --SNIP--
http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:vPFOYxNk8BQJ:www.thesimon.com/magazine/articles/why_are_they_famous/01138_the_legacy_guiliani.html
See my earlier post (#35) on this. You can't possibly be serious.
No, Hildy, I would not under any circumstance vote for Rudolph Giuliani.
McCain = Burnt Toast
Learn it, live it, etc....
Gay rights is NOT pro-gay Marriage. BIG DIFFERENCE! On gay marriage, Mike Bloomberg is pro and Rudy is anti.
But you have no problem supporting a former mayor?
Well, he did a good job on 911 when he went on live TV and told people to move north. Oh, and he did attend a lot of funerals of firemen.
And, let's see...what else? Hmmm, give me a couple of weeks to think and I'll get back to you.
Exactly. Good post, LiveFree99.
Greenwich Mean Time, Always.
I echo Guiliani's stance on gay rights - i.e. equal rights no special rights and no government support for gay marriage.
But the point of that quote was the Guiliani supports legal abortion and doesn't even oppose partial birth abortion.
For clarification
Rudy Giuliani on Abortion
Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions “I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights,” Giuliani said. He was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions. “No, I have not supported that, and I don’t see my position on that changing,” he responded. Source: CNN.com, “Inside Politics” Dec 2, 1999
You claim to be a New Yorker. If you remember his stance against the Mosque, if you remember his throwing Arafat out of the reception, if you remember his fights with the UN, if you remember how he tackled quality of life issues, how he returned the Saudi check, how he supported Israel, etc, it is disingenuous to say you don't believe he will be toughest on the WOT.
Not to mention is you remember that he was almost a victim of 9/11 and watched close friends die.
Who whould be tougher? Who would even come close?
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