Would Rudy Split the GOP?
I'm just asking. I mean, Hannity was spinning like a top today on the radio, talking about how we wouldn't have any issues decided or get anywhere as a country if we didn't win against the terrorists. All as a way to say "Forget about those other issues, pull the lever for Rudy."
Well, for one, is Rudy any better than Hunter, Thompson, Romney, McCain, or Tancredo on Iraq or global war on terror? he tries to be Mr 9-11 but he has less experience than McCain or Hunter. So if we want to win the war on terror, why not go for Hunter? Or McCain?
If we want to beat Hillary with someone with executive experience, why not go for the tailor-made to be the anti-Hillary - Mitt Romney, who is running on the Reaganesque themes of family values, fiscal restraint and strong military, has a great resume and beat a Hillary-clone liberal Democrat in a blue state in 2002?
And if we want a unifying conservative who the base can embrace, it might well be Fred Thompson. Fiscal conservative, federalist, pro-life record, etc. proven in 8 years in the Senate. And if he's not it, it could be, well ... anyone but Rudy Guiliani.
Rudy's nomination buys nothing for the GOP but a hangover; his nomination means open wounds and platform fights on social issues, and the fracturing of the Reagan coalition as attention gets focussed on the very issues Rudy would want to avoid. That is even without the threat of a 3rd party split, which could easily take out a crucial 3-5% of the vote and cause some 'Reagan Democrats' who voted Bush for prolife reasons to vote Hillary for economic reasons.
All this will only help the liberal Democrats and hurt conservatives.
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“Would the existing party’s leaders alter it’s planks on issues like abortion and stem-cell research, or would a convention dominated by Giuliani supporters rewrite the party platform on such issues, or would he take the stage to accept the nomination promising to campaign against the party platform or to to promise somehow split the difference ... It’s just very, very hard for me to comprehend how this would work.”
Simple. Rudy only gets the nomination if the GOP primary voters let him by voting for him.
Those GOP primary voters are the ones who decide the fate of the party: Will we be a party of certain principles or a party that decides its core principle is “whoever can beat Hillary is good”?
I for one don’t recall any plank in the previous platforms that said the latter. It would indeed be a conundrum to try to reconcile the platform with the candidate, and neither would look good at the end of the process. But Rudy will not be to blame for this, the GOP primary voters would be.
And those pro-Rudy primary voters would have the responsibility of keeping the party alive after splitting it in two like that.
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