Let’s just say Rudy wins the nomination, then wins the general by winning NJ, PA, OH, and possibly even NY. Ask yourself what that would do to those who say that ONLY conservatives in the Reagan mold can win.
Larry, I respect your views, but I think it is a big stretch to call Rudy a Conservative. Tough on crime, tough on terrorists moderate would be my description.
The country is divided at present, there is basically about 30% liberal socialist anti-War types, there are about 30% big C Conservatives- social and fiscal, and about 40% in the middle that vote on who they agree with and like who doesn’t scare them too much. (The Libertarians fall in this middle group— they are fiscal conservative small government believers, but against legislation of personal morality types which puts them at odds with the social conservative agenda on abortion, drugs, and usually gay rights)
In order for a Conservative to win, he needs to pick up a big chunk of the middle. Same for the Liberals. Someone already in the middle like Rudy needs to pick up some from the left and/or the right to win, and that is what he is trying to do— pick up some of the right with fiscal and security issues, and some of the left with some social issues. But that doesn’t make him a big C Conservative.
If we don’t get a big C Conservative in the race that can pick up some of the middle due to likeability and name recognition— like Thompson— that is when Rudy becomes the only option to beat the liberal Democrats. And if he emerges from the primary as the GOP nominee, I will work to get him elected. But we still have a chance to do better IMHO.
On the left, I don’t see Hilllary or Obama drawing in a lot of the middle, unless the candidate is an unlikeable and/or unknown Conservative, which is what the media is going to try to paint any Conservative as, its on page one of their playbook.