Free Republic

In fact, even while saying his backing of Thompson "is not a personal repudiation of Rudy," D'Amato managed to make it clear Giuliani shouldn't set his sights too high. Perhaps he could be a vice president, the former senator suggested. "He might make a great addition to the ticket" headed by Thompson, D'Amato told The Associated Press.

Not since Teddy Roosevelt took on Tammany Hall a century ago has a New York politician closely linked to urban reform looked like presidential timber. But today ex–New York mayor Rudy Giuliani sits at or near the top of virtually every poll of potential 2008 presidential candidates. Already, Giuliani’s popularity has set off a “stop Rudy” movement among cultural conservatives, who object to his three marriages and his support for abortion rights, gay unions, and curbs on gun ownership. Some social conservatives even dismiss his achievement in reviving New York before 9/11. An August story on the website Right Wing...