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To: John Robertson
Let's look at some of Rudy Giuliani's basic characteristics as a presidential candidate:

1. He's short.

2. He's bald.

3. He wears glasses.

4. He's a short, bald man who wears glasses and has a minor speech impediment.

5. He's an Italian-American.

6. He's an Italian-American from New York.

Are these totally superficial qualities? Absolutely. But any one of them represents a serious challenge to a presidential candidate in this age of packaged candidates and mass media. Two of them make a candidate virtually unelectable. The combination of all six of them makes Giuliani something of a circus act on the national scene.

139 posted on 10/02/2005 12:06:55 PM PDT by Alberta's Child (I ain't got a dime, but what I got is mine. I ain't rich, but Lord I'm free.)
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To: Alberta's Child

No one sees Giuliani as a circus act.


141 posted on 10/02/2005 12:08:47 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog (Join the Hobbit Hole Troop Support - http://freeper.the-hobbit-hole.net/)
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To: Alberta's Child

Dear Alberta's Child,

To add to your list:

7. He's running for the nomination of the wrong party. He'd be much more at home running as a Lieberman-style Democrat.


sitetest


158 posted on 10/02/2005 12:22:54 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Yes, a candidate must be telegenic to be viable. But"

1. He's short. I can't find this out. His stature certainly seems big. I'm betting he's taller than Hillary, so if we're going on, the tallest candidate usually wins, I'd say we're okay.

2. He's bald. Well, thinning...a lot. But not bald in the chrome-dome way, and that's a good thing.

3. He wears glasses. Reading glasses. Big dif. So do most people over 50.

4. He's a short, bald man who wears glasses and has a minor speech impediment. That speech impediment may be a New York accent. Whatever, he is a riveting speaker.

5. He's an Italian-American. The ethnicities with the so-called hurdles to overcome in national politics are Hispanics and African-Americans. Rudy's became a non-issue quite some time ago. Tens of millions of Italian-Americans and Catholic voters...yeah, that's really gonna hurt him.

6. He's an Italian-American from New York. Finally! A Republican brings home the electoral prize of New York. Thank you, Rudy! (A likely lock for him.)

"Are these totally superficial qualities? Absolutely. But any one of them represents a serious challenge to a presidential candidate in this age of packaged candidates and mass media. Two of them make a candidate virtually unelectable. The combination of all six of them makes Giuliani something of a circus act on the national scene."

To coin a cliche, Rudy has gravitas. He would never be a circus. And the gravitas was hard-won.

I think YOU are looking at things superficially, Friend.

Parsing out individual traits may seem to make a case. But everything needs taken in aggregate: all the traits, the time in history, the dynamics in the country, etc.

Again, Rudy is not my first choice by any means, but he is also by no means a joke candidate, as many--not one, not a few--many polls choose him overwhelmingly for the candidate, and the winner.


197 posted on 10/02/2005 1:23:10 PM PDT by John Robertson (Safe Travel)
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To: Alberta's Child

Yes, a candidate must be telegenic to be viable. But"

1. He's short. I can't find this out. His stature certainly seems big. I'm betting he's taller than Hillary, so if we're going on, the tallest candidate usually wins, I'd say we're okay.

2. He's bald. Well, thinning...a lot. But not bald in the chrome-dome way, and that's a good thing.

3. He wears glasses. Reading glasses. Big dif. So do most people over 50.

4. He's a short, bald man who wears glasses and has a minor speech impediment. That speech impediment may be a New York accent. Whatever, he is a riveting speaker.

5. He's an Italian-American. The ethnicities with the so-called hurdles to overcome in national politics are Hispanics and African-Americans. Rudy's became a non-issue quite some time ago. Tens of millions of Italian-Americans and Catholic voters...yeah, that's really gonna hurt him.

6. He's an Italian-American from New York. Finally! A Republican brings home the electoral prize of New York. Thank you, Rudy! (A likely lock for him.)

"Are these totally superficial qualities? Absolutely. But any one of them represents a serious challenge to a presidential candidate in this age of packaged candidates and mass media. Two of them make a candidate virtually unelectable. The combination of all six of them makes Giuliani something of a circus act on the national scene."

To coin a cliche, Rudy has gravitas. He would never be a circus. And the gravitas was hard-won.

I think YOU are looking at things superficially, Friend.

Parsing out individual traits may seem to make a case. But everything needs taken in aggregate: all the traits, the time in history, the dynamics in the country, etc.

Again, Rudy is not my first choice by any means, but he is also by no means a joke candidate, as many--not one, not a few--many polls choose him overwhelmingly for the candidate, and the winner.


198 posted on 10/02/2005 1:23:15 PM PDT by John Robertson (Safe Travel)
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To: Alberta's Child
The combination of all six of them makes Giuliani something of a circus act on the national scene.

He's hardly a circus act. Not like any number of Democrats who've ran in the previous election, or plan on running in 2008.

293 posted on 10/03/2005 2:16:35 AM PDT by BigSkyFreeper ("Don't Get Stuck On Stupid!" - Lieutenant General Russell "Ragin' Cajun" Honore)
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