Back to Politics as Usual
It's been almost a week since I had time to post. I was out-of-town most of the weekend attending the Mega Book University with Terry Whalin. I've spent the first part of this week catching up and brainstorming some other writing projects. Now it's time to get back to the regular routine.
Ever since the Drudge Report flashed the sirens and posted in bright red letters that Scooter Libby had been convicted of perjury, etc., the media has been consumed with the story. Jurors have been interviewed, claims that this conviction puts Vice President Cheney and the entire White House in a bad light have been raised by liberal media, and there have even been calls for President Bush to pardon Libby by at least one of the jurors. It has consumed several days of news cycles and it will be interesting to see if the fallout has any impact on the 2008 presidential election.
Somewhat lost in the Scooter Libby hoopla were a couple of articles about Rudy Guiliani that I read over the last couple of days. First was this one that ask whether Guiliani can get past the first date. It is an issue I addressed some time ago. Then I said that Guiliani would have a very difficult time winning the republican primary but would be a very electable candidate in the general election against any democratic candidate, including Hillary Clinton. The other article opines that evangelicals will vote for Guiliani because of his wartime leadership despite his positions on gun control, same sex marriage and abortion. It is the electability litmus test. Guiliani does have a huge lead in early polling in the USA Today polls.
The question continues to be whether a true social conservative will move into the top tier of republican candidates. So far it isn't happening. And as more money is raised by the leaders, the chances of it happening continue to diminish significantly. Will conservative republicans look to the electability test rather than where a candidate stands on important conservative issues? So far it appears to be the case.
Jerome
Ever since the Drudge Report flashed the sirens and posted in bright red letters that Scooter Libby had been convicted of perjury, etc., the media has been consumed with the story. Jurors have been interviewed, claims that this conviction puts Vice President Cheney and the entire White House in a bad light have been raised by liberal media, and there have even been calls for President Bush to pardon Libby by at least one of the jurors. It has consumed several days of news cycles and it will be interesting to see if the fallout has any impact on the 2008 presidential election.
Somewhat lost in the Scooter Libby hoopla were a couple of articles about Rudy Guiliani that I read over the last couple of days. First was this one that ask whether Guiliani can get past the first date. It is an issue I addressed some time ago. Then I said that Guiliani would have a very difficult time winning the republican primary but would be a very electable candidate in the general election against any democratic candidate, including Hillary Clinton. The other article opines that evangelicals will vote for Guiliani because of his wartime leadership despite his positions on gun control, same sex marriage and abortion. It is the electability litmus test. Guiliani does have a huge lead in early polling in the USA Today polls.
The question continues to be whether a true social conservative will move into the top tier of republican candidates. So far it isn't happening. And as more money is raised by the leaders, the chances of it happening continue to diminish significantly. Will conservative republicans look to the electability test rather than where a candidate stands on important conservative issues? So far it appears to be the case.
Jerome
Labels: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, Mitt Romney, presidential election, Rudy Guiliani, Scooter Libby
posted by Jerome at 10:15 PM
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