Free Republic

For me, the most interesting fact in this article is that Alex Castellanos is working for Romney. He is a smart guy. The important point, though, is that he is not likely to be working for someone he does not regard as a good conservative.

I don't see anything in the article that would rule out the possibility that Alex leaked it.

"tell me again how I should be confident that Rudy is going to choose "strict constructionists"." After asking this question, you quote him as saying "Scalia ia a terrific judge." His willingness to say that actually tells me more about the judges he would pick than I would learn from his saying he would pick a strict constructionist. "strict constructionist" is a very abstract expression that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Scalia has a detailed track record on the court. Perhaps he is not the best paradigm to use in picking a judge, but he is not that bad.

Dark Skies begain this discussion by attempting to convince us that Giuliani is a liberal. I have never met a liberal who thinks that Scalia is terrific. There probably is such a creature, but it must be a very rare beast. (I have lived amidst liberals of every variety for most of a long lifetime.)

None of this information tells me whether I could support him or not.

Has he nailed down a position on Supreme Court nominations that would be inconsistent with an appeal to pro-life Republicans in the primaries and which is centered on the promise to appoint only strict-constructionists to the bench? A pro-abortion candidate could feel very strongly that Roe was an abuse of power by the court.

Has he nailed down a position on gun legislation that would be inconsistent with an appeal to the gun-lobby in the primaries--an appeal centered on a promise to veto federal legislation that interferes with the states' right to pass concealed carry laws or that othewise interferes with the states existing rights to legislate on the ownership of weapons? A pro-gun-control candidate could feel very strongly that the constitution is violated when the federal government limits the powers of the states in this matter.

I don't know the answer to either question, but, until I find out the answers, I have no idea how well he will do in the Republican primaries, or whether a conservative Republican should support him.