[EternalVigilance]

The secure borders bloc, while it may be politically somewhat disjointed, is nothing to sneeze at, either. To them, Giuliani is poison.

[dirtboy]

That's the problem - there are many, many blocs that present problems for a Giuliani nomination. If it were just one, his booster might have a point. But you are seeing Rudy on the opposite side of many of the most potent political forces today. Gay rights is another one - for all the talk of Rudy being opposed to gay marriage (and now gay civil unions with his recent flip-flop), no one really believes him, given his eagerness to perform gay marriages if they were to become legal.

And seeing how even Oregon voted down gay marriage, that's another force of nature that Rudy would have to overcome.

Any more, I'm wondering what kind of abject, deliberate obliviousness must possess his boosters. But, then again, as Howlin now famously said, pro-lifers and pro-gunners were a foot on their necks. So for those who approached Bush from the left of the GOP, it isn't that far to go to be willing to support and/or promote Rudy, and it would be a relief (although a deluded one) to think that those nutbar pro-lifers and pro-gunners don't need to be part of the power structure of the GOP any longer.

But they fail to realize just how long a journey, away from core values, such a trip would be for those to the right of Bush.

[dirtboy]

The secure borders bloc, while it may be politically somewhat disjointed, is nothing to sneeze at, either.

It is showing itself to be more potent with each passing day. After the GOP losses in 2006, I thought shamnest was a done deal. So did the Bush Admin and the Dems, who hired specialists to help them draft shamnesty legislation for later this year.

But a funny thing happened on the way to open borders nirvana - more and more voters are giving politicians an earful. Both McCain and Brownback are reversing themselves on their support of shamnesty. I think we're now at the point where there could be a filibuster of horrific immigration "reform", which would stop the runaway train.

We may still end up with bad reform, but that's still better than the alternative. And the movement just keeps getting stronger. IMO it will be the predominate force in 2008, especially with MS-13 and foreign gangs getting more and more publicity.