Posted on 03/04/2007 2:13:52 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
The 2008 presidential campaign is just weeks old, but already an article of faith within the Republican Party -- the belief that no politician who favors abortion rights and gay rights can win the GOP nomination -- is being challenged by the candidacy of former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
...."This is the first Republican presidential primary since Sept. 11," said Ed Gillespie, ... "Rudy Giuliani is a candidate who can clearly test the proposition that a Republican who is more moderate on social issues can capture the nomination. He's testing it now."
....Whit Ayres, a Georgia-based Republican pollster, said he has been struck by the number of conservatives he has encountered who disagree with Giuliani on abortion or gay rights but are still attracted to him as a possible Republican nominee. ....
"It truly is the question in Republican presidential politics at the moment," Ayres said. "There are a lot of people with a more traditional view who think that his leading in the polls is just a mirage and that he has no real chance. I don't believe that. I think there's more to this than simply name ID. "
...A veteran Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to candidly assess the situation, said he is among those who long believed that a Republican with Giuliani's profile would have no chance. He still believes the former mayor faces significant obstacles but said the odds of Giuliani winning the nomination are not as remote as they once seemed.
He gave three reasons: the absence of a strong, traditional conservative in the GOP field; continuing antipathy among many social and religious conservatives toward McCain; and the prospect of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) becoming the next president.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
There is a way out of it. Have the moderate accompanied by a young, conservative VP, like Michael Steele, who can conceivably run for President in 2016. Ensure also that the platform at the convention is conservative. Finally, realise that politics does involve compromise, even under the best of circumstances.
Regards, Ivan
With Hillary's negatives so high, she will only get votes that are against our nominee.
"If a Conservative is nominated, moderates will vote Democrat."
Nope. Not by their history. Conservatives in Congress won in most cases, it was the East Coast liberals who lost overall.
Nominate a RINO, lose.
Of course he does. If he didn't, the attacks on him would not be so nasty and immature.
As it always has.
Finally, realise that politics does involve compromise, even under the best of circumstances.When that was tried over the moral issue of slavery, it gave us the Civil War.
It's possible that he might pick up enough middle of the road independents and right leaning liberals to offset what he'll lose from groups such as conservative evangelicals. I still wouldn't want to place my bet on gaining enough new base to offset lost base.
Slavery was a rare issue that had no gradations; one was either for it or against it. That said, even Lincoln compromised on that great moral issue - the Emancipation Proclamation only covered the states which had seceded, not the states that were still in the Union that still retained the institution.
Politics is a dirty, greasy business - as it so happens when people with colliding interests have to work with each other.
Ivan
Local elections!!!!!
People need to rally voters in their districts and in their states.
If this election pulls a lot of people to the polls (as I believe it will) local ballots better be ready to reflect conservative issues so they can capitalize on the nominee's coattails.
That depends, in part on the Democrat nominee. If it's Obama, that is a genuine concern, If it's Gore, he is so steeped in moonbattery, moderates will run screaming from him.
Regards, Ivan
"Slavery was a rare issue that had no gradations; one was either for it or against it."
Just like abortion. At least imho.
Oh? Are you against it in the case of saving the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest?
Ivan
I'm sure you'll agree that compromise went into our Constitution.
Never in my worst nightmares would I believe Republicans, much less FReepers, would willingly go along with the wholesale slaughter of our helpless unborn generations. Shameful. May God forgive us.
Regards, Ivan
In genuine cases of maternal life threatening complications (ectopic pregnancies, as an example), clearly you have a moral right to self-defense - one life threatening another always invokes that right. Otherwise, abortion is always a moral wrong. Rape and incest are crimes that deserve severe punishment, but not death to the innocent child.
I am a social conservative but would support Guliani because of his strong leadership in the fight on terror. I would justify it by saying that the primary attribute of our next President must be leadership due to extreme challenges that this country faces in the War on Terror and Guliani is the strongest leader of any candidate that is running. Besides in the bast 30 years 3 republican Presidents have failed to fix or push any of the social conservative causes anyway all they have managed to do is stem the tide. The slippery slope looms every closer.
Thank you.
That's not what she said. It's not the goals we disagree on, it's the means. Getting rid of abortion is going to require having appropriate justices in the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade, a promise which Rudy has made, and can be made to stick to - but following that, it will, by the provisions of the Tenth Amendment, follow state by state referenda. That means there will need to be a consensus from below to get rid of it - the first part is easy, the second part, the polling data indicates, is incomplete. People will not be persuaded of the wrongs of abortion by being called apostates for lacking certainty on the issue.
Ivan
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