A conservative who is politically savvy and wanted to win in the general election, would vote for Rudy. Unless we can run a candidate who can win some blue states, we stand to lose everything and could face disaster. Only Rudy can do this. Republican conservatives can talk about Romney or Thompson or Hunter till they're blue in the face but facts are facts and none of the conservative candidates usually mentioned on this site has the clout with the general public in places like OH, NJ, FL, PA, MN, CT, CA, OR, IO, RI--that Rudy has, just to name a few blue or battleground states that would hand the GOP a landslide victory and secure the Congress for them in '08.
Sounds good to me!
I agree with you that Rudy could probably win the presidency with relative ease, but I doubt he would have coattails down the ticket.
The marginal Giuliani voter would probably not see a dilema in supporting him and a Democrat for Congress at the same time. Rudy is not a very partisan figure.
At this point I feel the only conservative that could win the nomination and the presidency is Fred Thompson. His name at the top of the ticket would probably be more of an inspiration to the base as well, and IMHO give us a better shot at taking back Congress.
I support Rudy, but I think Fred Thompson could put a few blue states in play. So could Tommy Thompson, come to think of it.
Sorry, but no - the solution to the problem of the party being too leftist is NOT to turn farther left. I'm a gun owner and will not vote for a gun grabber. Period!
The problem with the GOP is that it is perceived as being full of corruption, especially in Ohio. The party's willingness to be corrupt is part of the problem and their unwillingness to be agressive with the corrupt Dems made it look like the corruption is one sided. If the GOP wants to shed that image, the need to back away from candidates who don't pass the smell test. I'm afraid that Rudy fits in that catagory.