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I'll vote for him mostly because I am deathly afraid of handing my country over to a Marxist like Barack Obama.

“.....women and minorities hardest hit”

Nobody cares what I like either. Nobody cares how we feel. Except the Democrats of course. They are all about feelings. But the rest of the world only cares what we do.

"If all men were just, there would be no need of valor."
- Agesilaus

Judging by the article Giuliani wrote in Foreign Affairs Magazine:

http://tinyurl.com/2huqpz

and by his team of foreign-policy advisers, Giuliani had the best overall vision of how to fight the Global War on Terror.

McCain is certainly steadfast on Iraq. But Giuliani had a broader vision of what to do beyond Iraq.

So I would rate them Giuliani best, McCain second best.

Giuliani wasn't a good candidate at all. Look at his total failure. I question whether he'd have been able to communicate a plan and execute it.

Huckabee had position papers. Giuliani had advisers. McCain is the man.

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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater

His campaigning seemed so half-hearted, like "well, they're saying I'm the front-runner, so I can't turn that down, can I?"

"If all men were just, there would be no need of valor."
- Agesilaus

You're not giving him nearly enough credit. Giuliani was a victim of circumstance that there was little he could do about it.

Not even taking into account the obvious built-in difficulties, his pro-choice stance, thrice married, Mayor of New York (not exactly popular in the heartland), he was totally boxed-in by the circumstances of the year. Look at it state by state:

Iowa - Giuliani can't realistically win in such a heavily pro-life, caucus driven environment. I mean, come on, Mike Huckabee won it. That pretty much means Giuliani wasn't going anywhere.

New Hampshire - In a normal year, this would be a great state for Giuliani. Libertarian "Don't tread on me," type Republicans, centrist independents, etc. However, A. Mitt Romney was next door, and had been getting free publicity for the past four years non-stop. B. McCain won it in 2000 by a large margin and had a loyal following. Giuliani, thus, was crowded out of the market.

Michigan - Again, in a normal year, he could be competitive in this state, but with Mitt Romney's heavy ties to the state where his Father was governor for 12 years and his Mother ran for Senate, and McCain's heavy following, again, he won it big in 2000, he's crowded out yet again.

South Carolina - On one side, he's got two likable southern politicians to compete with (Huckabee and Thompson), on the other side, his natural voters in this state are more likely to go with McCain because McCain is pro-life, and it's a very pro-life state.

Florida - Finally, McCain has no natural advantage, Romney has no natural advantage, Huckabee or Thompson have no natural advantage, here's a state he can fight for. However, as you and I both know, by that point, it was too late.

He chose a risky strategy. It failed. But what else would you have had him do? He could have ran hard in New Hampshire, but if he had done that, anything short of finishing 2nd would have knocked him out, and all he really would have likely done is knock McCain out and elect Romney. He could have competed hard in Michigan, but again, Romney's natural advantage would have been hard to overcome, again, he likely would have taken 3pts away from Romney and 10 from McCain. Wouldn't have got it done. He could have competed hard in South Carolina, but it seems unlikely he would have been able to get traction with his built in difficulties.

I think, in retrospect, he should have pushed really hard in New Hampshire and let the chips fall where they may. But he might not have wound up any better off this year then he did anyway.

In a different year, had he been running against, say, Bill Frist, Jeb Smith (if his last name weren't Bush) and Tom Ridge, he'd have been able to compete in most if not all of those states and very possibly win. It was just a weird set of circumstances that never let him take off.

"I ain't never votin' fo another Democrat so long as I can draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas

... is having the political talent and skill to overcome difficult circumstances and turn the course of events to his favor. I admire Rudy and considered him my second choice after McCain, but if he couldn't overcome the primary obstacles you describe then perhaps he failed the audition for President on this go-around. Consider the obstacles that McCain overcame. Primaries are "survival of the fittest".

"If all men were just, there would be no need of valor."
- Agesilaus

I agree. Both had the basic right ideas, Giuliani just understands how to deal with situations like this better. He's more fearless then McCain and really don't mind calling a spade a spade. He's not afraid of controversy and not afraid to p!$$ people off, provided he knows who and why and what it'll get him.

I still hope McCain makes him Secretary of State. He'd be the greatest Secretary of State since Dean Acheson.

"I ain't never votin' fo another Democrat so long as I can draw breath! I'll vote for a dog first!" - Leola Thomas

I agree completely.

I know a lot of people had problems with him and believe me as one of his supporters from the beginning I would have been right out front LOUDLY voicing disapproval if he ever left the conservative reservation.

What I liked so much about him was that he did what Rush has been calling for us to do lately: reject the liberal premises.

But that is in the past, McCain is the nominee and I think that maybe fate has brought us here for a reason. Hopefully Rudy will try again next time.

I think *Bob Dole* would have a good chance in this environment...

So would Gerald Ford.

Conservatives aren't going to be happy to hear this, but this is a year when a moderate Republican candidate is the only hope the GOP has to avoid a total wipeout.

We joke a lot about the Democrats' calling for "change," but they really have glommed onto the public's mood, judging by the polls. What the public wants to "change" is they want a President who doesn't remind them of Bush anymore. Conservatives like Romney and Fred Thompson had a much tougher time trying to distance themselves from Bush; how could they run to Bush's right without sounding really extremist themselves? Go to Bush's right and you find guys like Pat Buchanan and Tom Tancredo there. And those would lose to Obama in a landslide.

McCain is reportedly planning to run an unorthodox campaign that emphasizes his maverick nature; he's going to emphasize global warming to show he's not a shill for the Bush Administration. Conservatives are going to be gnashing their teeth, but they just don't get how much Bush is despised by everybody else these days.

We have a bad reputation as a party that a real conservative would not be able to overcome. I do disagree that it would be impossible to run to the right of President Bush, though. If you aren't at an absolute minimum, equal to if not slightly to his right, you would have a very hard time making any real case at all for conservatism.

What needed to be done is for a candidate to run as an unapologetic conservative that understood the resentment over big government among Republicans and the hypocrisy charges from the Dems (deserved in many cases), and was willing to run more as a conservative than as a Republican. The only real option we had for that was Fred, and he would have been an ideal candidate had he run the race correctly. Under the circumstances, the best we can do is McCain, which means that I have to eat that promise I made to never vote for him after McCain-Feingold.

You're not alone in eating your words. I may have to do it even after the Gang of 14 made me swear I would never vote for McCain.

I remember being gleeful when McCain's campaign was tanking last summer. Life's crazy like that

is crazy like that and we have to be willing to change on a moments notice because nothing is ever as perfect as we wish it to be....at least we have the good sense God gave us not to be "bitter" like the left.

Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion