That paragon of journalistic excellence, the Wall Street Journal's opinion page, offers the SWNIDishly esteemed Rudy Giuliani as the object of its weekend edition interview today.
For those plebians who don't find the Journal on their driveway six mornings a week, the good news is that the interview is on the free side of the WSJ web site.
We find this one of the best Rudy pieces we've read so far. We pray that gentle readers aren't so sated with our own all-Rudy-all-the-time editorial policy that they can share some of our enthusiasm after reading it.
9 comments:
Hey SWNID, what about Fred Thompson, truly conservative Republican who IS against abortion?
Thompson can't beat Hillary. Rudy can and will. Said it before.
The Dems and the MSM were sure it was going to a victory for Kerry in 2004:-)
I prefer to vote for a presidential candidate based on his character rather than his popularity.
Thompson CAN beat Hillary and as soon as he gets serious, Rudy's done.
I guess I just don't understand your infatuation with Rudy. He's just too often on the wrong side. I have to agree with kevink re character vs. popularity. Thus, Rudy doesn't make my top five. OK maybe #5 at best. Fred's the man. (See previous comment.)
Fred Thompson as the Republican nominee for President would be a disaster. Americans do not want to elect a former lobbyist/lawyer into the White House. Democratic strategists would have a field day picking him apart. Just because Thompson is also an actor does not make him the next Reagan...as much as some (myself included) wish that he (or someone) was.
That being said, I am not enamored with Rudy, either. I think that head to head he would soundly defeat Clinton or Obama but 2008 will not be a head to head race. A centrist Republican like Mr. Giuliani will drive a good number of conservative voters to a third candidate, avec or sans an organized party. And it is my prediction that this candidate will receive anywhere from 13% to 24% of the popular vote.
Rudy is not the candidate with whom SWNID agrees most. He is the candidate with a chance of winning with whom SWNID has any agreement at all. He also happens to be the best candidate to lead a country at war, in our opinion. And when a country is at war, the war is what matters most.
It's fine to claim that you don't vote on the basis of popularity, but elections are decided on the basis of popularity, by majority vote. Those who ignore popularity are destined to vote for highly principled individuals who will never hold public office. It does no good in politics to hold out for the very best if the very best isn't possible.
If Rudy is nominated, some conservative may well launch a third-party candidacy. But since there's no strong conservative likely to bolt from the Republican party and thereby end his political future, we deem that outcome highly unlikely. So Rob, that's why we're not concerned about your scenario. No right-wing third-party candidate will get more than a handful of votes because he won't have the standing to draw people away from a viable candidate, even one with centrist views. That small margin might decide the election, like Nader's did in 2000. But he won't draw the votes of a Ross Perot in 1992, for example, whose centrist insurgency certainly cost Bush I his re-election. And remember, Rudy continues to poll well among self-described conservatives and to be well received at conservative events. SWNID is not the only social conservative to support him.
We'll cast our lot with those who predict--with serious data to support their views--that this election will be won in the center. For us, any Republican will be better than any Democrat in the next election, and Rudy is the one most likely to prevail.
I am so disappointed in 'conservatives' who are so ready to embrace Rudy, an adamant pro-abortion candidate. I think Fred is the ONLY Republican candidate with the charisma and name recognition to beat Hillary in a head to head election. Maybe Rudy could beat her also, but he is, by no stretch of the imagination, a true conservative in my book! This type of compromise is what got the nation where it is today, firmly in the hold of the liberals!
We thank the intrepid and gracious KevinK for making us a gift of a deck of "Rudy" playing cards. We thank him all the more knowing he is, like "Anonymous," determined not to support America's Mayor and Our Man. This gift proves that amongst conservatives, differences can be overcome with generous spirits.
We continue to feel that our reasons for supporting Mr. Giuliani are not acknowledged by commenters, who incessantly beat the drum of ideological purity. We think that four terms of avowedly pro-life presidents has shown definitively that resolution of the abortion issue depends on something other than electing pro-life presidents. We think that most elections are fought and won in the middle, not by being truly conservative or liberal, and that this election will be an extreme example of the ascendant center. And we think that the war matters most of all right now.
Thompsonites, what think ye of the rather murky record of true conservatism that is emerging from nascent opposition research about Your Man? What think ye of Your Man's lack of executive experience?
Still, we note with some comfort that Ds show early signs that they fear a Thompson candidacy, though he polls far worse than Rudy against their likely candidates.
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