Does One of My Readers Have A Secret Identity?
You know who you are – writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, Thomas Roeser says, if he runs, “Rudy Can’t Fail”. Interesting choice of words, Thomas – or shoud I say (dramatic pause)….Knemon!
Of Rudy G., Roeser writes:
Giuliani played no role in taming Katrina, but as I saw New Orleans turn into an open sewer, all I could think of was what Giuliani would do. Threats to our country demand a Prince of the City: a prince fearless enough to write his own rules to establish order. And a prince emblematic of Machiavelli’s book of the same name, one who can bluff winningly, who can engender fear and respect. As one conservative Republican woman in Temecula, Calif., told radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt: ”All that [meaning pro-life, pro-abortion] doesn’t matter if we’re not safe.” By which she meant Giuliani, the indomitable ex-mayor of New York, the hero of 9/11. With Giuliani, the signal would be transmitted to all: He’s determined that we will be safe at home.
You can certainly add me to the list of those who found Mayor Gavin lacking in the comparison. It’s a long list:
The most recent Pew poll, which maps the political landscape, has Giuliani topping all contenders across a broad swath of public opinion. He rates highest among enterprisers, those who want to promote business (90 percent); social conservatives (75 percent); pro-government conservatives (69 percent); the “upbeats” who view the future positively (69 percent); taking with him a majority of the disaffected people who have felt depressed about the country’s future (53 percent); doing nicely with disadvantaged Democrats (37 percent), and falling just short of a majority with liberals (47 percent). He has done this without the visible trappings of a campaign.
…And as for those who say that Giuliani is too liberal, I say: Wait for the change as the campaign unfolds and he won’t have to romance just New York City. His critics forget the magical fluidity that is politics. Ike started out as an FDR man, JFK an America Firster, LBJ a segregationist, Nixon a Red China-basher.
…One more thing: Let ‘em pair Giuliani, whose words spout like bullets from a machine gun, with a veep who talks slow, with the vowels dripping syrup on hominy grits swimming with butter: Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi, who brilliantly handled Hurricane Katrina. Manhattan and Mississippi. Yeah: I like that.
Rudy/Haley 2008? Hmmm…that’s got a pretty nice ring…
How about Giuliani/Honore?
Giuliani as social conservative? or even moderate? As Torin Thatcher said to Burt Lancaster in the classic swashbuckler “The Crimson Pirate”: “Captain, thy humble servant shall believe it when thy humble servant sees it.”
Actually,try Giuliani-Perry 2008. Gov. Rick Perry of TX is the unsung here in all this. But he won’t be unsung long.
No offense to Barbour, but his involvement attending that racist group’s picnic in the 2002 campaign will come back and haunt him.
Actually, I think the reason Giuliani does so well in the polls is BECAUSE there is no campaign. He’s not facing an opponent who will seek out and exploit any and every weakness he has. And he does have them.
Every candidate has weaknesses, and Rudy is no exception — and, unlike McCain, Rudy has not been given a free pass from the media, so his weaknesses are fairly well known. But as his performance in the wake of 9/11 made clear, when a leader as strong and effective (and charismatic) as Rudy comes along, it makes up for a hell of a lot of weaknesses. And given how much better Rudy looks the more MoveOn hypes the New Orleans evacuation fracas, one starts to suspect there may be something behind this Karl Rove Controls the Universe paranoia after all.
harty, maybe I’m just too close to Perry, living in Austin…overexposure, perhaps…but this picnic thing with Barbour I’m not aware of…details? I’ll have to google that and see what gives…thanks for the tip…
Not me, but I’m glad the catchphrase (or “meme,” but I don’t like that word) is getting around.
Funny, I’ve heard lots of people say that Rudy can never win over the evangelicals, but none of these people were actually themselves evangelical. I’m sure there *are* southern/fundamentalist/evangelical/whatever forces that can and will be mobilized against the guy in the primaries, but right now he seems pretty popular at all levels and regions of the party – and, just as importantly, with moderates and independants.
Time to update my CV and send it to his office, I guess …
Sure, Knemon, that’s exactly what someone hiding their secret identity would say…not me, indeed!…but wait, your CV rather than your resume…fee, fie, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman…
Have a great weekend.
Maybe we’ll finally get that Rudy-Hillary matchup that we missed out on in 2000.
It’s funny. Everyone Republican who says Rudy can’t win the GOP nomination always starts out by saying, “Well, I’D vote for the guy, but all those OTHER conservatives won’t!” This leads me to believe that this mysterious anti-Rudy conservative who will deny him the nomination may be so few and far between that we’ll all be very surprised when Rudy stomps through the south and wins all the primaries. Rudy’s got a red-state personality. He’s tough. On terror. On taxes and spending. On entitlement reform. Research his record as Mayor. You’d be surprised how conservative he was on the issues. Sure, he had to run as a pro-choicer, etc. It was friggin’ New York!!! But as a nat’l GOP candidate? Methinks he can compromise a little. Maybe run as a social federalist, promising to leave cultural issues with the people and the states. His personal views on those issues would be irrelevant at that point. And with the hunger for leadership that our country is now experiencing, his natural instincts may override the concerns of a few on the far-right.
But Barbour shouldn’t be his veep. Nor should Perry. They’re both too regional. He needs a veep from the south, but not someone who doesn’t know how to talk to the rest of the country. Put Mark Sanford on the ticket with him and you’ve got a winner.
And yes, Rudy v. Hillary is coming up in ’08.
Giuliani / Sanford ’08? It might be crazy enough to work!…
Re: Dave’s Comment (9/10/2005 @ 4:27 PM
As a blue state (PA), Republican, conservative atheist, I won’t vote for Giuliani, and here’s why:
He’s pro-abortion on demand*. He’s pro-gun control. He tolerated a mindset in the NYPD that led to abuses like the assault on Abner Louima. He turned a blind eye to (or just as bad, IMO, didn’t know about) Bernard Kerik’s association with known organized crime figures. He lied to, and cheated on, his wife. And I’ll say the same thing about that as I did when Slick Willie did it; if he’ll lie to the one person he promised to be faithful to, who else will he lie to? And about what? (And Clinton at least had a good excuse; he was married to the Dragon Lady.)
(*Maybe Giuliani could run as a social federalist. It wouldn’t be the first time someone’s said one thing while running for public office and did something else after he was elected. Anybody remember Bill Clinton pre-and-post ’92 election? Or for that matter, Hillary NOW?
If Giuliani is the best the GOP can do in ’08, and especially if Hildebeast is the Democrat’s nominee, I’ll either go third party or sit it out.
A blue state, Republican, conservative atheist…fatman, you cover all the bases, don’t you?…
“He tolerated a mindset in the NYPD that led to abuses like the assault on Abner Louima. He turned a blind eye to (or just as bad, IMO, didn’t know about) Bernard Kerik’s association with known organized crime figures.” …
No, see, you’ve got some good points there. Rudy gives off more than a few “dictator!!” pheromones, but maybe that’s what we need at this point. I’ve said all along that this is a gamble, both as a primary candidate, presidential candidate and as a leader. But yeah, it’s so crazy that it just might …
Mark:
That’s because there’s enough of me TO cover all bases. Simultaneously.
Knemon:
Do we really want to gamble on a man who “…gives of more than a few “dictator!!” pheromones,” AND is a proven liar? I hope not.