Sunday, December 9, 2007

The Rudy Thing

Among my friends and also in the conservative media, I've heard a lot of people try to make the case for Rudy Giuliani, esp. when it comes to his credentials as a "true conservative".

It seems the conversation generally goes something like this.

"Well, sure he's got a record and tradition of being pro-choice, but he'll change when he's president instead of mayor!"

"Well, sure he has a different position on homosexuality from a lot of the party, but that won't come up when he's president."

"Well, sure he's not strong on gun control, but he's said he'll be different as president."

Well, why should we vote for him, then?"

"Why, because of everything he's done as mayor, of course!"


Hmmm...

There's the whole "he can beat Hillary" thing... and despite the media's desperate desire for a horse race in the lefty scuffle I still say I wouldn't bet against her with money I'd found. And Rudy vs. Hillary doesn't poll considerably better than the other leading candidates on the right against her.

Now, if you want to get into a really nuanced argument, and start looking at states like New Jersey as being possible swings, okay. But I'm not even convinced that those that might vote for Rudy as the GOP candidate outnumber those who would be less than enthused by him being the head of the ticket and stay home.