[Alberta's Child]

OK -- that was a good first cut. For the sake of this discussion I'd say let's disregard any particular order and assume that everything on a list of key issues is equally important.

For one thing, I would take Executive Experience off the table. I believe this is an important characteristic for a candidate to have, but it certainly isn't an "issue" in any sense. The same holds true for Electability.

So now we're down to 8 issues, not 10. Let's add Illegal Immigration and Personal Ethics into the mix, since both of these issues played prominent roles in the 2006 elections.

So here's our new List of 10 Issues:

1 - Abortion
2 - Gay rights
3 - Right to Keep/Bear Arms
4 - "War on Terror"
5 - Fiscal Responsibility
6 - Supreme Court
7 - Law and Order
8 - States' Rights
9 - Illegal Immigration
10 - Personal Ethics

I also happen to think the protection of private property rights is an absolutely critical issue on a national level, but for the sake of this discussion we can assume that Item #8 would refer to "legitimate interpretation of the U.S. Constitution" instead of applying only to States' Rights. And my concerns over two of the most important issues from the standpoint of the Federal budget (entitlement reform and taxation) would be covered under Item #5 (Fiscal Responsibility).

As I see it, Giuliani would get a "conservative" grade of 0 (on a scale of 0 to 1) on these five: #1, #2, #3, #7, and #9. Most people assume #7 (Law and Order) is one of his strengths, but a candidate -- especially a former Federal prosecutor -- who has shown a willingness to openly violate Federal law when he sees fit (check out his track record on illegal immigration when he was mayor of New York City) has basically disqualified himself on this point.

My opinion is that Rudy Giuliani would get a "conservative" grade of 1 on only one issue -- #5 (Fiscal Responsibility). I'd give him a grade of 0.5 on another one (#10), and an "Incomplete" on the following:

4 - "War on Terror" (because nobody knows what the heck this means)
6 - Supreme Court (because nobody has any idea what Rudy Giuliani's legal/judicial philosophy is)
8 - States' Rights (because I've never even heard Rudy Giuliani utter this phrase, and I've never seen any indication that he believes in this)

So you basically have a guy who scores 1.5 out of 7, with 3 incompletes. The 1.5 out of 7 computes to 21%, so I'm really not that far off here.

[dirtboy]

I had him at 33 percent.

But somehow that makes us unappeasables and 100 percenters.

Must be that new math. From the same folks who are convinced he can reach 51 percent of the vote.

[dirtboy]

The same holds true for Electability.

Electibility can only be proven by elections. So far, Rudy's never won an election outside NYC. That's hardly a good sample for an entire country as to his electoral appeal. And his poll numbers in the 2000 NY Senate race were not very good prior to his withdrawal, so he doesn't even seem to have a good electoral appeal in his home state - just as Al Gore's inability to win his home state ended up being his undoing in 2000.

[JimFreedom]

Whats fun really about this little exercise is that we have been defining the items in the list, so you could do it over and over again and keep refining the list. Me I am happy to have moved you above 15 :). I think you played fair and square.

Now your task is to get Hunter above '-' or whomever your candidate is.