[bilhosty]

" He also won't play very well with the base with his liberal social stances."

Some parts of the base will not like his issues. On the other hand he is not as liberal on them as the MSM would like us to believe. He is not for Gay marriage or Open Borders. I think even on this board heis prefered to MCCain. I think Libertarian Conservatives and small business types will not have problems. I think it is just the evangelical types. they will come around when they see the alternative. He will obviously have to have a complimentary running mate. I thought Huckabee would be perfect until I heard his comments on Immigration recently.
If Rudy does not wear well I think the best alternative strategy would be Thompson and Pawlenty. that would give us strength in the north land where we have so many swing voters and would be culturally neutral. We do need to get away from being a Southern party (I live in Georgia).

[Recovering_Democrat]

[Rudy Giuliani] is not for Gay marriage...

Rudy is not exactly a conservative on the issue:

"From a conservative perspective, Giuliani is also on the wrong side of the gay marriage debate, which proved a potent issue in the 2004 election. He opposes a constitutional ban on gay marriage and says he supports “civil unions.”

Rudy apparently supports partial birth abortion:

Giuliani...voiced support for partial-birth abortion, a practice that is opposed by an overwhelming majority of Americans.

Rudy can be labeled as somewhat soft on illegal immigration. Here is a quote from the same article above:

"Although Giuliani, a former prosecutor, has called for tougher security along the U.S.-Mexico border, he has also bragged of providing city services to the multitudes of illegal immigrants flooding New York City."

Source:
Meet the Next President: Giuliani tops in early GOP polls

I don't know how long Rudy will stay at the top in these polls...I may be wrong, but I don't think the base will vote for him if given a choice of a stronger conservative. We see how the "electability" factor worked for John 'effin' Kerry in '04.