You’re the one engaging in wishful thinking. Take Rudy’s positions — the real ones, based on his record, not the “fluff” from his campaign site that’s trying to disguise it — remove his name, and circulate the info among likely primary voters.
They’d laugh it off as a joke.
Rudy Guiliani is only a “name”. An abstract concept that most people have a warm fuzzy about from 9/11. When the primaries start getting serious and people really, really look at their options, they’re going to forget those warm fuzzies and vote for someone who actually deserved the label “Republican”.
“They’d laugh it off as a joke.”
Not in the real world.