Look, the way I see it right now Guiliani is the best shot at winning the white house. In order for us to keep Hillary or Obama out of the white house, we have to nominate somebody with strong independent appeal. Rudy has that. A traditional conservative isn’t going to win right now given the political climate of this country. Independents hate Bush right now and they hate conservatism. And if we nominate somebody like Fred Thompson or Duncan Hunter, then they are going to get slaughtered in the General Election.
If you want to flame me and call me a liberal hack then go right ahead. I really don’t care. I love George W. Bush and I campaigned for him twice. And it kills me the amount of hatred in the country for such a good man who’s trying the best he can to keep all of us save. And I do believe in conservative values and I wish it wasn’t the case. But unless we nominate somebody who has appeal amongst the independent voters, than I don’t think we’ll win. And until I see something that shows me that a guy like Fred Thompson would have a chance against Hillary or Obama, Rudy is who I plan to support in the primaries.
Okay, go ahead and flame me now
There is a saying: The enemy of my enemy is MY FRIEND.
I think what you are currently seeing is that Rudy is a MSM darling “leader” because he will divide the Republican party from its strength. The strength of the Republican party is its conservatism. How many of the Democrat House seats were won by candidates moving “towards” conservatism? How many Republican House seats were lost by lib candidates?
If the MSM can keep Rudy as a winner they get a lib (I don’t think anyone can deny he is a flaming lib with all the evidence out there). That lib would run on the Republican ticket against a lib on the Democrat ticket. The media as a bonus gets those “evil social conservatives” all in an uproar.
With the rationale that Rudy would be a magnet for the Independent voters; where is the calculation for the “conservative” votes bolting the election for a conservative candidate? How many votes would be lost to that? There is a difference between liberals and conservatives. Conservatives operate on principal and liberals operate on power. Conservatives have to vote their conscience. I don’t know what the percentages on this are but I am positive that a great number of Democrat voters could have their candidate rape someone and they would justify it and still vote for the candidate.
There are too many dynamics to compromise with principals. If Hillary is selected, how many people will not vote for her because of her background? If Obama, how many racists will not vote for him? etc etc
At what point do you believe that the political ground you are willing to compromise will be regained by conservatives?
"..keep all of us save."
English class is your friend.
John - I’m with you...I think you have stated the political landscape of our country accurately and realisticly. As a conservative, I know we don’t have a winnable candidate next year, but as an American we HAVE to have someone who won’t sell our sovereignty as a free nation to the Arabs! Independents ARE the swing voters. We couldn’t even get good conservatives reelected in 2006 for the congress!