Wonderful post! Says it all. But I think this Rudy-mania is not something new. Many of these folks have been longing for the right moment since the days when we heard that Terri Schiavo would be the downfall of the social conservatives. Now they've got their chance, but to make it last, they are trying to pacify the rest of us with this vague nonsense about judges. If they were honest about their views, they'd come up with a bumper sticker like "KILL TERRI SCHIAVO FOR HER STEM CELLS! RUDY IN '08!"
I see as much hatred for the fiscal conservative wing coming from the social conservative wing.
My, how far we have fallen from the heyday of Ronald Reagan, and even Gingrich, where one could be both socially AND fiscally conservative. Sure, some (Reagan) seemed to focus more on the fiscal end of things and others (Santorum) on the social end, but we meshed together.
It seems that there is a contingent of social conservatives who sing a one note song about abortion, which is of course honorable, but then they support ANY pro-life candidate, even if he/she is a damned Socialist on economic issues, or a cut-and-runner on foreign policy.
On the other side of that coin, you have the fiscal conservatives who abhor the thought of losing their nudie bar down the street and get mad at anyone that dare mention abortion, or gay marriage.
It's disheartening. Can no one be both a social AND fiscal conservative, and still want to keep the illegals out and kick some terrorist a$$?