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| Giuliani's Convictions Could Win Over Republicans |
| 2006-07-07 |
| By Mark Davis Twenty-eight months to go, and I can't wait. We have much to cover before this year's elections, but I can't shake my political-junkie fixation on 2008. It doesn't get more wide open. For the first time in 80 years, neither the sitting president nor vice president will make a peep about running. While the 1952 Eisenhower-Stevenson race was the last featuring neither the incumbent president nor his second in command, President Harry Truman did run unsuccessfully in the New Hampshire primary that year, and his veep, Alben Barkley, proceeded even further before falling short. Throw in the developing cast of characters for the race to succeed President Bush, and it's no wonder there's early buzz. Who doesn't have some sliver of opinion about the possibility of Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democrats or Condoleezza Rice for the Republicans? |
| Posted by:ryuge |
| #4 I agree with No Mo Uro as to Rudy maintaining anything resembling a gun-grabber position. To win in NYC, a successful Republican mayoral candidate needs to promise to at least maintain the status quo re the (idiotic) local gun control laws in order to peel off a big enough chunk of the Dem electorate. I think Rudy's smart enough to know that NYC-style gun control ain't gonna play in the red states. I've said this before, but I'm happy to say it again...IMHO, what will make a Rudy candidacy interesting is how his admittedly messy personal life is going to play with voters, specifically Republican women. I remember some feminist hack said she'd have been willing to polish Slick Willie's knob out of gratitude for abortion remaining legal, but conservative women take adultery very, very personally. Where I live, a big "famliy values" Repub congressman lost his seat when he made the reeeeally big mistake of squiring his 20-something extracurricular cutie to some public events. This spread among the district's Republican women like wildfire - one friend estimates his wife personally cost this guy at least a dozen votes. Rudy can still make inroads among Republican women by emphasizing his proven leadership in a crisis - I think they'll grumble a bit, grit their teeth and go with the guy who'll keep them safe even if he lets Thumper out to play a bit too often. Newt couldn't pull this off - despite his great contributions as an ideas guy and a political strategist, he's never saved a city or demonstrated cool leadership under (literal) fire. |
| Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2006-07-08 00:12 |
| #3 Dunno, Secret Master. In an age when even most Dems concede that, nationally at least, advocating for or legislating more gun control is a) political suicide and b) nigh on impossible to get passed even if you ARE suicidal, look for Rudy G to back off on any "gun grabbing". He's a pol, after all, and like most of his ilk he'll round his rough edges to get where he wants. If Carville knows that pushing for gun control is like drinking a growler full of hemlock, it stands to reason Giuliani's people have hipped him to the same. |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2006-07-07 19:50 |
| #2 I can't voter for a gun grabber. I'll vote Libertarian first. |
| Posted by: Secret Master 2006-07-07 12:51 |
| #1 Sorry, here's the link: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/07/giulianis_convictions_could_wi.html |
| Posted by: ryuge 2006-07-07 06:45 |