[You Dirty Rats]

Seriously, the Republican candidate needs to be palatable to the party's base.

And just who decides who is in the "base" and who is not? Please. The real problem now is that the Republican Party is in danger of becoming too narrow and too sectional. That's a recipe for permanent minority status. Sorry, but the argument that all Republican candidates have to be conservative cuts no ice with me. You can't win nationally with 35% of the vote and giving up the large coastal and upper midwestern states.

[television is just wrong]

Thank you.

[Luke21]

"You can't win nationally with 35% of the vote and giving up the large coastal and upper midwestern states."

The states you allude to last voted Republican when Reagan was running. California voted for Bush senior by a hair in 1988. These aren't nominal Democratic states. Granted, some of it is fraud but Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan are liberal bastions, just like the nuts and wackos on the west coast. We have Obama, Turban Durbin, Stabenow, Feingold, Boxer, Feinstein, Murray, and Cantwell from those states, all fruitcakes. And you think we can win those states with a pseudo lib like Rudy running against a genuine socialist?? Those people vote like Pavlov's dog. They will reject Rudy and go for the genuine liberal every time. Arnold is a Hollywood aberration.

Rudy versus a lib still equals two libs. They couldn't even have a debate, because they'd agree on everything. No choice, no vote here. You like liberals, vote Democrat.

[Gene Eric]

>> You can't win nationally with 35% of the vote and giving up the large coastal and upper midwestern states.

I bet you'll get a bigger swing of voters towards the Conservative rather than the moderate. And, I wouldn't be surprised if the Conservative vote were solid along the Coastal and North Eastern states. In my opinion, Republican voters are done with warbling media-star Republicans. It's getting more difficult for the moderate Republican to pass the smell test.

[CitizenUSA]

You Dirty Rats wrote: "Sorry, but the argument that all Republican candidates have to be conservative cuts no ice with me. "

Do you even read posts before responding? I mean, seriously...where did I say the candidate has to be conservative? You are most adept at beating down straw men.

I simply stated the candidate, IMO, must have broad appeal to the base (that includes moderates, or anyone else who consistently votes Republican). A staunch conservative isn't going to cut it any more than a moderate (liberal) guy like Rudy. Compromise doesn't mean you always get the guy you want while the rest of us suck it up, you know.