plenty of people I know, including members of my own family, fall into the "independent" voting block. My 6 relatives in Florida all voted for Bush, they could care less about social issues. just because everyone here on FR is wired into politics, that is far from the norm amongst americans at large.
FR is a vacuum. Almost nobody in the general electorate is as tuned in, or as conservative, as the average Freeper. The climate on the outside is just not that hospitable to GOPers, regardless of pockets of denial here and there on this forum.
Pop culture check - Ohio Valley Wrestling, a developmental territory for the WWE, has a wrestler who is a strong GOP and Dubya booster. He is a 'bad guy' and routinely booed by the crowd.
Some Freepers can't seem to accept that he is a president who is now comfortably with low approval who has lost the confidence of many Americans. He is a huge minus for the GOP in 2008, and a successful GOP candidate must distinguish himself or herself strongly from this administration, which has simply fallen and can't get up.
I think a big part of Rudy's appeal is that he can make a clear, persuasive, and cogent case for himself. Dubya just can't do it - he comes across as befuddled and out of touch, as well as downright incoherent. Rudy's style is about as different from Dubya's style as you can get. For most GOPers (and most Americans), that's a good thing.
For those preferring to live in the FR Vacuum, denial ain't a river in Egypt, and DST mandates that you change your calendars from 1956 to 2007.
I'm not a fan of Brownback, Huckabee, and others who want to push social issues exclusively. But at least a President should respect life and the 2nd Amendment at a minimum. If Giuliani would've supported the 2nd and didn't flap his gums about supporting abortion 24/7, I would've maybe excused his sordid personal life and remained a supporter.
True. Elections can be a study. If the dems don't offer a liberal enough candidate, some of them will vote green or socialist party. If republicans don't offer a properly conservative candidate, they say they will just stay home. So the swing voters decide - the ones that aren't "wired into politics." And if each party ends up nominating candidates that fit their respective agendas perfectly, it still comes down to swing voters. If Ronald Reagan could come back and run again we'd all be delighted. But he can't, and the world isn't what it was back then. We've had 9/11, and up-and-coming generations of younger voters that are not as concerned about certain social issues as their parents and grandparents. Rudy has stated clearly that he would appoint justices like Roberts and Alito - knowing how they interpret Roe v. Wade. He may not get the nom, and if we field an electable candidate, that will all be good. But he has a lot of appeal to the non-idealogic voter.