A first(?) thread on 2008: McCain,Giuliani & the Republicans

Giuliani: He's "America's mayor" - perhaps; but far from New York's preferred mayor

I'm proud of his stance--and proud a GOP standing for the big office had it.

It certainly isn't going to be Romney, who isn't polling well.

I've heard rumors of a Hagel-Bloomberg ticket. If that happens, you might as well say hello to a Democratic president, b/c it would split your party right down the middle.

Only saving grace....? Same on yours.....LOL

Ought to be interesting, no doubt. I bet Nimh is running around with a half-woody almost every day now.

I wouldnt count Romney out. I think Giuliani is unlikely to win the primaries when the pro-life militants rally against him, but I dont see McCain winning.. he's by now managed to alienate both ends of his party. Romney has been mostly under the radar so far, but he's been creeping up in the polls gradually but steadily. Plus he's got that creepy combination of smooth exterior and inane ignorance that Republicans go for.

(May 14, 2007 -- 10:15 AM EST // link)

My views don't matter much about Republican presidential candidates. But I have a question I'd like to hear people's views on. When I hear Mitt Romney talk he sounds like a complete phony. Analyzing his record I think there's a very strong case that he's a serial flipflopper and a real opportunist. But that's not what I'm talking about. His manner and voice and what he says ... everything sounds extraordinarily canned and contrived. And in a class in that respect way beyond anything John McCain or Rudy Giuliani say. Am I alone in this?

Cycloptichorn wrote:

I've heard rumors of a Hagel-Bloomberg ticket. If that happens, you might as well say hello to a Democratic president, b/c it would split your party right down the middle.

Unh-uh. A Bloomberg candidacy would spell trouble primarily for the Democrats. He's only a Republican in name, and the little polling that was done on a possible Presidential run, I seem to remember, showed him attracting Democrats much more than Republicans.

The right-wingers' long knives have not yet been drawn in this presidential campaign. McCain looked pretty formidable in 2000 until Rove's unholy minions started insinuating that the senator had fathered an illegitimate black child -- and that wasn't until the South Carolina primary. There is still a long time for the character assassins to work on Giuliani.

A few months ago, I posted about the noticeable change in the political language being used.

Conservative vs Republican.

It's getting more evident with every NewsMax email I get.

Talking about Giuliani - this on a note of levity:

On YouTube: Animated Ferrets vs Rudy Giuliani

"and the fact is - the fact is - DAVID - .. There is something deranged about you.… The excessive concern you have for ferrets is something you should examine with a therapist.… There is something really, really very sad about you.… This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.… You should go consult a psychologist.… Your compulsion about?-your excessive concern with it is a sign that there is something wrong in your personality.… You have a sickness, and I know it's hard for you to accept that.… You need help."

McCain has, I think, more than a dozen dogs.

joefromchicago wrote:

The right-wingers' long knives have not yet been drawn in this presidential campaign. McCain looked pretty formidable in 2000 until Rove's unholy minions started insinuating that the senator had fathered an illegitimate black child -- and that wasn't until the South Carolina primary. There is still a long time for the character assassins to work on Giuliani.

Here's what the sharpening of those long knives sounds like:

(Manassas, Virginia) "If the Republican Party nominates Rudy Giuliani as its candidate for either president or vice president, I will personally work to defeat the GOP ticket in 2008," says Richard A. Viguerie, author of Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause. "Rudy Giuliani is wrong on all of the social issues, is wrong on the Second Amendment, and is pretty much a blank slate on all other issues of importance to conservatives," Viguerie adds. "If the Republican Party nominates him, it is saying to the American people that it has lost all purpose except the raw political desire to hold power. It will be time to put the GOP out of its misery." Viguerie made his comments in response to Tuesday night's debate in South Carolina between the Republican presidential candidates. "I continue to urge conservatives to withhold their support from all of the present candidates," he said. "The leading candidates aren't worthy of conservative support, and the few who are truly conservative don't have a realistic chance of getting the nomination." "But Rudy Giuliani is a special case," Viguerie continued. "In recent days, he has reaffirmed his long-standing support of abortion, and Politico.com has revealed his numerous contributions to Planned Parenthood, the nation's biggest supplier of abortions. His comments in the debate did nothing to diminish his affront to those who believe in the culture of life." "It's Rudy or the GOP," Viguerie concluded. "We're in a political version of ?'The Survivor,' and both cannot survive politically."

Source

Dobson Says He Won't Vote for Giuliani
By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer
11:49 PM PDT, May 17, 2007

WASHINGTON -- A prominent Christian leader said Thursday that "my conscience and my moral convictions" prevent him from voting for Rudy Giuliani should he win the Republican nomination.

In a blistering online column, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson wrote that, should the former New York mayor become the nominee, "I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran -- or if worse comes to worst -- not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life."

"Many liberal Americans will agree with the social positions espoused by Giuliani. However, I don't believe conservative voters whose support he seeks will be impressed," Dobson said on WorldNetDaily, a conservative news Web site.

A Christian evangelical based in Colorado Springs, Colo., Dobson said he was speaking as a private citizen. However, his words carry considerable weight with the some 7 million listeners of his conservative radio show.

Earlier this year, Dobson said he won't back John McCain because of the Arizona senator's opposition to a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Dobson has given no public indication on how he feels about the other top-tier candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The two, however, have met privately.

National conservative groups gave Thompson high marks during his Senate career, giving him better credentials in Republican primaries than McCain or Giuliani. Business groups gave him 90 to 100 point ratings, the Christian Coalition gave him a 92, the American Conservative Union gave him an 85. The National Taxpayers Union gave him an A rating. The NRA, which has problems with Giuliani, McCain and Romney, has consistently supported Thompson.

Thompson's only black marks with conservatives have been support for McCain's campaign reform bill and his refusal to sign on to the Chamber of Commerce's campaign for "tort reform." Thompson is an attorney and he refuses to support efforts to limit the ability of poor people to seek legal remedies through class action lawsuits and contingency fee lawyers. But "tort reform" is more of an issue for big business and the Wall Street Journal editorial page than movement conservatives.

Fred Thompson's campaign in Tennessee demonstrated that he does not consider conventional campaigning as a strait-jacket from which he cannot escape. If he chooses to run for president he will do it on his own terms. It is a risky strategy. If he fails he can expect the political establishment to pillory him for his deviation from orthodoxy. The "Fred is lazy" tag will come back. He may lose the nomination. But nine out of 10 of the current GOP candidates, running conventional campaigns, will lose as well.

The problem with our politics is that the people who can get elected president are the people we wouldn't want as president. If there is anybody who can upset the status quo, create a new dynamic and overcome the process it would be Fred Dalton Thompson.