Why Giuliani?
Steven M. Warshawsky explains at the American Thinker why he believes that Rudy Giuliani is the Republican candidate in the race. Read it in its entirety, conclusion:
My final scorecard on these five issues is as follows:
On the war on terror, Giuliani is the best candidate; McCain is a distant second.
On immigration, Giuliani is the best candidate; Romney is a close second.
On the economy, Giuliani and Romney are equally strong; McCain is a distant third.
On health care reform, Giuliani is the best candidate; Romney is a distant second.
On Supreme Court appointments, all three candidates are equally strong.
In sum, Rudy Giuliani is the best choice among the three leading GOP candidates. He is not a “perfect” choice. His liberal social views and his messy personal life are hardly what we would like to see in a Republican president. Nevertheless, on the issues that matter most, he offers the most conservative policies and the most effective leadership.
One of the main problems I have with Giuliani though is exactly what Steven likes about him: to me, the war on terrorism is much more than a military war, it should also be ‘fought’ diplomatically and economically. To me, there’s simply no way that we’re going to win this war without “winning the hearts and minds” of Muslims worldwide. Steven may not like it, but the war on radical Islam is, in many ways, very different from the war on the Nazis and communists. You can’t go in, destroy countries, get rid of their leaders and think that all will be fine. This war, unlike World War II, doesn’t work like that.
Also be sure to read this post by Kevin Sullivan:
They had to know that they would fall from national grace, essentially making this the campaign’s “dry spell.” Money would become tight, GOTV harder. I assumed, in my blind admiration of their strategy, that they would account for this post-Iowa-New Hampshire, pre-Florida window of time.
But they apparently didn’t.
He goes on to argue that Giuliani’s campaign is in somewhat of a panic. I think he’s right. They didn’t expect their man to lose so much support in only two weeks time. On the other hand, polls show that he’s tied for first place in Florida: he could still win. If he does, it could very well be that all those who doubted that his strategy would work will have to apologize.
That was actually pretty instructive; since I disagree with this article’s author on almost every single policy point that he discussed, it’s no wonder that I am leaning much more favorably toward McCain than to Giuliani. Thanks, Steven, for helping me articulate why I hope Rudy doesn’t pick up steam and become the nominee.
Christine: to a degree that’s also my view on the article and… glad you’re alive!
I’m alive and well, thanks- and thinking I must be spending too much time online overall if people get concerned when I’m away from my computer for half a day