I'm linking to the poll currently posted at Expose the Left, a great blog that you should check out on a daily basis.
In doing so, I'm particularly interested in the views of conservatives on Giuliani vs. McCain. Obviously, we conservatives don't completely embrace either. And it is commonly and widely assumed that because McCain is closer to the conservative position on gay rights and abortion that conservatives, when forced to choose between the two, will back McCain.
I can see that point. The recent National Review cover featuring Giuliani may cost a lot of votes all by itself.
That said, I have expressed the view that conservatives are more likely to regard Giuliani as a straight talker than McCain. John McCain often presents himself as 'one of us' - on spending, abortion, defense, and many other issues. However, he then happily turns against us on issues like the Federal Marriage Amendment, campaign finance reform, immigration, and the '11th commandment,' (where no one seems happier to highlight his disagreement with other Republicans than McCain).
Giuliani on the other hand, has no real track record with conservatives. So we don't have a grudge against him. Sure we disagree with him, but we regard him as a straight shooter. So if he tells primary voters 'as the Republican nominee for President, and hopefully as President, I'll support the majority of Republicans who oppose abortion, oppose new rights for gays, and oppose rewarding those who break US law,' would you be inclined to believe him and support him?
I would, and most conservatives I know would. If we represent the majority, then Giuliani will have a clear advantage over McCain among conservatives in the primary. Feel free to append your comments, and I'll summarize the results in a later post.
And now, the Expose the Left poll.
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Friday, July 28, 2006
McCain vs. Giuliani (& Others)
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2 comments:
The polling at large of Republican primary voters indicate that there are two contenders: McCain and Giuliani.
McCain has gone out of his way to insult or annoy just about every constituency of the party to prove his bona fides as a "maverick" to his buddies on the press bus.
Giuliani, on the other hand, does not harbour any illusions that the media is on his side.
When the crunch comes, the media will turn on either of them; the question for us now then is which one of them will actually be prepared to fight back?
To back up what Philo said, who will actually be prepared to fight back without biting the head off the person holding the microphone or looking like he's about to have a rage-induced stroke? That's probably Rudy.
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