"...against Reagan in 1980, and it still gladdens my heart remembering how Big Ron crushed Mr. Peanut and Mondale."
Yes, we agree on that. I don't know how we let it slip away, but slip away it did. I just don't think that can be duplicated anymore - there is no true conservative even approaching President Reagan's stature.
And I do hope you're right. If a more conservative candidate emerges and gains the kind of stature the Rudy and McCain now have, all the better.
As to examples of leadership, here's a short list that does not include his 9/11 performance:
1) His smackdown - HARD - of the "Reverend" Al Sharpton in the early days of his Mayoralty. When I saw that, I realized we had elected a real man for the job.
2) His immediate attention to the "quality of life" issues, and his insistence the the NYPD get the job done. For the first time in my life as a NYer, I finally saw a Mayor that looked at the middle class as people to be respected, not disdained.
3) His belief that a big city need not be a crime capital, and his intolerance for law-breaking citizens of ANY AND EVERY stripe.
4) Fiscal policies that made the city business-friendly, and taking NY out of terrible debt - and worse bond ratings.
5) Calling Arafat a murderer; refusing to kowtow to him; THROWING HIM OUT of a reception at Lincoln Center because he, Arafat, was an uninvited interloper.
6) Handing back the check - you know that story.
If you look at the list of NYers who HATED Rudy, you'll know why you have to vote for him.
The main argument of the Rudy shills boils down to this: Conservatives are supposed to overlook his numerous character flaws, his enormous personal baggage, and his extreme and obnoxious liberal policies because he'd be tough on terrorism and the world's bad guys. As proof they offer his performance during and after 9/11. The shills make it sound as if Rudy's performance was greater than Churchill's in 1940, when Britain was teetering on the edge and almost went down to Hitler's Germany.
I simply have been asking for specific examples of this "great leadership" during and after 9/11 and still have only the two meager examples that I cited previously. Making speeches and tough rhetoric won't cut it against the terrorists, North Koreans, Iranians, etc., who, I am sure, are tougher and more resilient than the squeegee men of years past.