Oct 05 2007
Rudy vs Hillary
The die is set for 2008, barring something major happening to one of the lead candidates. Hillary is too strong for the other one-term Senate wonders on the Dem side to take her down right now. Hillary, being a 1.5-term Senate wonder has the edge, until someone else comes in to shake it up and no one is out there who could do it in my opinion. As Tom Bevan notes at RCP, that is boosting Guiliani’s chances on the Rep side:
One of Giuliani’s strongest selling points to conservative voters who may be at odds with him on social issues is the promise that he can run the strongest general election campaign of any Republican in the field. Giuliani continually harps on the fact that he scrambles the electoral map, putting states into play that no other Republican can.
But Giuliani’s “electability” argument is enhanced considerably when Republicans envision – as most already do – Clinton winning the Democratic nomination. Case in point: in the NBC/WSJ poll released this week Giuliani holds a 7-point lead over Thompson (30% to 23%) among Republican voters. However, when those same Republican voters were asked which candidate had “the best chance of beating Hillary Clinton in the general election,” Giuliani’s lead over Thompson balloons to 31 points, 47% to 16%.
The nation is going to surprise a lot of people. They are going to put a strong-on-defense Republican in the WH, which will seem odd to many after the Bush years. And they will let the Dems keep a small majority in the Congres, which will look add to many after the Dems wildly unpopular run at leadership. America is going back to the days of stalemate. They know Clinton and the Dems left us too exposed to terrorism and that Bush and the GOP have done a lot to answer al-Qaeda and defend this country.
But they also note the far right has become to harsh and rigid. So they want them to stay away from domestic policy. We have a war raging outside our borders. People do not want a war raging inside them. I think moderates will win the day in the primaries. But the Dems will take Congress because they have come off less harsh. There will be exceptions. I do expext Tom Davis to be the next Senator from VA. Mainly because he is a moderate GOP representative from the critical Northern Virginia area and will win there and across the state if nominated by the GOP.
Political history surrounds us at this moment. The abysmal poll ratings will NOT be a harbinger of what is to come. Because as abysmal as this stalemate is right now – too many people fear tipping the country either left or right at the moment. And probably with good cause.
Anyway, Rudy will beat Hillary and we will finally get the match up the country wanted to see in the first NY Senate race when Rudy had to bow out of the race for medical reasons. Hillary just can’t match up to Rudy.
“What happens when Gulianni “moves to the center†after securing the nomination? Then what differentiates him from the Dems?”
Oh, I dunno, maybe a strong military and national security for openers.
steve:
The majority of Americans may not share your opinions, that does not mean they are not Americans. Too often far right conservatives think there are two kinds of people: them and bad people.
As for legal vs illegal immigration, I am sick of listening to fanatics tell me what I think. I am sick of them telling me that I have to support the policies of some loon like Tancredo or I do not believe in the law.
Just where do people get off doing that to another American?
Last night I saw some story on the Dream Act on the news. There was the miltiary recruiter and Dick Durbin on one side of the issue and Jeff Sessions and one of those people who run military recruiters off of campus.
It seems that some people are supporting a bill that would allow the children of illegal immigrants who have been in this country since they were small children to get on a fast track for citizenship if they can pass the tests necessary to join the military.
Oh noooo, we can’t have that. These children must be punished.
Well believe it or not people from other countries have died in Iraq wearing the uniform of an American soldier. So it is already happening to some extent.
But the knee jerk reaction is to not even discuss it, just treat all these people like criminals even if they were 8 years old when they got here.
Really, that is the kind of attitude that helps Democrats win elections.
It is the complete inability to be flexible enough to deal with complex situations. It is me good, you bad.
And that is the reason Tacredo can not even get past the margin of error in his own party’s primaries much less win a national election.
I think Rudy would make a good president. I do not consider him the lesser of evils.
BTW, if I did not make it plain, it was Durbin and the military man on one side of the issue and Sessions and the anti military activist on the other.
And Steve, if Rudy moves to the center then he will be right where most Americans already are.
I would not have a problem voting for Rudy.
I support Rudy 100% and probably disagree with him on several issues. So what………..I disagree with my spouse of many years.
I admire a man that was tough enough to clean up NYC, in spite of them. Think about all those bleeding liberal hearts and how they had to hate some of the really tough things he had to do. That’s enough proof for me.
I read a comment that said something about a street fighter that would hit them in the face with the trash can lid…..LOL. Go Rudy.
I like the way he doesn’t grovel and states his views. That is more important to me than being in 100% lockstep. If he wins, I will support him the same way I support our current great President Bush. And yes, I do believe history will be very kind to President Bush if even a little of the truth filters through.
Security trumps all else for me and hopefully that will prevail nationally. Most reasonable people were profoundly changed by 9/11. They got to see Rudy in action and they liked what they saw. Personally I think Rudy had as much to do with quelling fears or panic just as much as Dubya did. He also displayed chutzpah when he told the sheik to take his check and shove it. I’m sure NYC could have put the money to good use, but I think Rudy’s response won him a lot of respect, i.e. sometimes throwing money at a problem doesn’t automatically absolve the terrorists (and their sympathizers) from responsibility. I also think it’s this respect that will allow many strong Christians to support Rudy. He has already won their respect and they aren’t going to change that opinion because Dobson wants them to.
In many areas Rudy is more liberal than I am, but I’d prefer him in the WH….I’ll be more than happy to fight him on areas where I disagree with him (illegal immigration) once he’s elected. The evangelicals/3rd party supporters want it all their way or the highway; they don’t seem to realize that they can affect policy even after he’s elected….it IS do-able. I don’t see any “perfect” candidates who are electable.
I’ve watched a number of interviews and the debates; Rudy has stated again and again that he supports judges who are strict constructionists and stated specifically that he would nominate justices in the vein of Alito and Roberts.
Those who say they’ll support a 3rd party candidate who is pro-life are cutting off their noses to spite their faces. Roe v. Wade was law when Dubya took office and it will still be law when he leaves. Dubya did what he could on this matter; barring one of the justices croaking in the next 16 months he won’t get to nominate any more. The next president will probably get to nominate 2, possibly 3 justices. If Hill’s president there is no way in hell Roe v. Wade will be repealed.