Al, I read the article, and there is a lot of interesting food for thought there. But the one element missing from it, as with a lot of "inside the Beltway" thinking, is that the average God-fearing sooial conservative is going to look at Rudy and is NOT going to be motivated to the ballot box-- in an election where the Dimorats will be hungry as heck to defeat the party of Bush, the person they hate the very most. This person is not privy to the glad-handing and $1000-a-plate dinners and smoky back rooms of GOP compromise.
And if Rudy does get the nod, expect the MSM to open up the hype floodgates on the cross-dressing and the gay stuff -- oh, not condemning of course (wink) but how it's a big change, how will this play in the South, does this mean gay marriage is A-OK for the GOP. A big reason why 2004 was so successful was getting the church-going to the voting booth via marriage-saving initiatives. If that's tried again in 2008, with Rudy you will have a top-of-the-ticket candidate that denies everything those initiatives stand for-- not only in public policy but with his philandering and divorcing ways. And if Rudy runs, you better pray that Hitlery with her motivational negatives gets the primary nod, because nothing else with get our people motivated with enough strength to win this.
All the Rudy folks keep saying that he is the pragmatic choice. He is everything but pragmatic, and ultimately with this sellout of core conservative values a Rudy candidacy will doom the party of Reagan to lose its share of power-- as well as its very soul.
And if they do it will be countered with images of Rudy's heroism during and after 9/11 and most Americans will be DISGUSTED - at the MSM, NOT at RUDY.
The issue in 2008 will be the WOT - what with Iran's creeping closer to nukes and threatening the world. Not pull-out, but how to best change strategy and WIN.
Your statement implies that Southerners are stupid one-issue voters. Having lived in the Bible - Belt for 8 years I can tell you this is FAR from the truth. Its almost like you have been taken in by, and are repeating the MSM Koolaid mantra about this.
Southerners are the most patriotic of Americans, they know we are at war, they absolutely DESPISE the treasonous opposition like Murtha, and they know that Rudy is the one who will take the fight to the terrorists - and without a velvet glove a la Dubya in Iraq, but with brass knuckles.
Rudy's principled stance on judges and the 'socon' issues (ie. he is a constructionist who will appoint constructionist judges like Scalia and Roberts - confirmed by no less a Federalist Society Conservative luminary than Ted Olsen - combined with his tacit promise that he is not a 'crusader' on social issues but believes that they should be decided by the people's elected representatives is right in line with what 90% of 'socons' (like myself, for example) believe.
So the fact that he is not flip-flopping a la Mitt and trying to brownnose this group is also enhancing his image as a true leader - which he is - its funny how it is the Veterans here on FR who have been the first to catch on to that. Its a 'disturbance in the force' that we are highly attuned to, if you will. We can tell a real leader from a political poseur a mile away - and Rudy is a real leader.
Therefore Rudy will not meet significant opposition except from a tiny minority of 'no compromise any time any where' radicals who are squealing like stuck pigs around here the past few weeks because their tactics have found themselves marginalized.
I was open-minded on Rudy when the bashing started. Now, I am 100% behind him. Your misguided attempts at character assassination, and 'can't see the forest for the trees blindness' has had this effect on many, many Freepers - and on conservative voters across the country.
Contrary to the idiotic "Rudy=Hitlary" statements which even the biggest rube knows are BS, the difference between Rudy and Hitlary (besides that one will cut-and-run while the other will get tougher in the WOT) is that Hitlary is a doctrinaire crusading Marxist who will use the FULL power of her office to sign laws and appoint judges who will seek to limit and take away our rights as religious Americans, home-schoolers and 2nd Amendment backers - this will be THE FOCUS of her administration, NOT the WOT. She's waited nearly 40 years to implement Saul ALinsky's tactics for turing America into a Marxist-liberal state.
Rudy's priorities are straight - WOT is #1, AMD - AND IF YOU GET NOTHING MORE OUT OF THIS POST, PLEASE GET THIS:
Rudy is a PRINCIPLED CONSERVATIVE who believes that the people should decide most of their social issues through their local elected representatives - and he will appoint conservative judges who have that philosophy - as opposed to Hitlary, who will appoint Ruth Bader Ginsburgs to every open Federal Judiciary Seat ACROSS THE NATION.
THAT is the real difference between Rudy and any national radical crusading left-wing Democrat who will run in 2008 (99% its Hitlary).
So look at this issue beyind out-of-context quotes made by Rudy when he was Mayor of a 5-1 LIBERAL city where he had to politically survive in order to save the City (which he did). He was THE most hated politician by the liberal limousine crowd that NY had ever seen. Does this sound like Rudy=Hitlary to you?
Get your gaze out of your navel and see the 'Big Picture'. Rudy is not a threat to conservatives, he will uphold local rights (especially through his judicial appointments, AND he will fight to protect this nation from a terrorist and a looming nuclear-terrorist peril. The alternative is to elect a Dem and concede defeat.
And if they do it will be countered with images of Rudy's heroism during and after 9/11 and most Americans will be DISGUSTED - at the MSM, NOT at RUDY.
The issue in 2008 will be the WOT - what with Iran's creeping closer to nukes and threatening the world. Not pull-out, but how to best change strategy and WIN.
Your statement implies that Southerners are stupid one-issue voters. Having lived in the Bible - Belt for 8 years I can tell you this is FAR from the truth. Its almost like you have been taken in by, and are repeating the MSM Koolaid mantra about this.
Southerners are the most patriotic of Americans, they know we are at war, they absolutely DESPISE the treasonous opposition like Murtha, and they know that Rudy is the one who will take the fight to the terrorists - and without a velvet glove a la Dubya in Iraq, but with brass knuckles.
Rudy's principled stance on judges and the 'socon' issues (ie. he is a constructionist who will appoint constructionist judges like Scalia and Roberts - confirmed by no less a Federalist Society Conservative luminary than Ted Olsen - combined with his tacit promise that he is not a 'crusader' on social issues but believes that they should be decided by the people's elected representatives is right in line with what 90% of 'socons' (like myself, for example) believe.
So the fact that he is not flip-flopping a la Mitt and trying to brownnose this group is also enhancing his image as a true leader - which he is - its funny how it is the Veterans here on FR who have been the first to catch on to that. Its a 'disturbance in the force' that we are highly attuned to, if you will. We can tell a real leader from a political poseur a mile away - and Rudy is a real leader.
Therefore Rudy will not meet significant opposition except from a tiny minority of 'no compromise any time any where' radicals who are squealing like stuck pigs around here the past few weeks because their tactics have found themselves marginalized.
I was open-minded on Rudy when the bashing started. Now, I am 100% behind him. Your misguided attempts at character assassination, and 'can't see the forest for the trees blindness' has had this effect on many, many Freepers - and on conservative voters across the country.
Contrary to the idiotic "Rudy=Hitlary" statements which even the biggest rube knows are BS, the difference between Rudy and Hitlary (besides that one will cut-and-run while the other will get tougher in the WOT) is that Hitlary is a doctrinaire crusading Marxist who will use the FULL power of her office to sign laws and appoint judges who will seek to limit and take away our rights as religious Americans, home-schoolers and 2nd Amendment backers - this will be THE FOCUS of her administration, NOT the WOT. She's waited nearly 40 years to implement Saul ALinsky's tactics for turing America into a Marxist-liberal state.
Rudy's priorities are straight - WOT is #1, AMD - AND IF YOU GET NOTHING MORE OUT OF THIS POST, PLEASE GET THIS:
Rudy is a PRINCIPLED CONSERVATIVE who believes that the people should decide most of their social issues through their local elected representatives - and he will appoint conservative judges who have that philosophy - as opposed to Hitlary, who will appoint Ruth Bader Ginsburgs to every open Federal Judiciary Seat ACROSS THE NATION.
THAT is the real difference between Rudy and any national radical crusading left-wing Democrat who will run in 2008 (99% its Hitlary).
So look at this issue beyind out-of-context quotes made by Rudy when he was Mayor of a 5-1 LIBERAL city where he had to politically survive in order to save the City (which he did). He was THE most hated politician by the liberal limousine crowd that NY had ever seen. Does this sound like Rudy=Hitlary to you?
Get your gaze out of your navel and see the 'Big Picture'. Rudy is not a threat to conservatives, he will uphold local rights (especially through his judicial appointments, AND he will fight to protect this nation from a terrorist and a looming nuclear-terrorist peril. The alternative is to elect a Dem and concede defeat.