Rudy's Back
From the NY Post:
Confident that he'd have a chance to win, Rudy Giuliani is rounding up his top political advisers for a possible 2012 presidential run, sources tell Page Six.
Sources say the tough-talking former mayor "thinks the Republican race will be populated with far-right candidates like Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, and there's opportunity for a moderate candidate with a background in national security."
Giuliani has even scheduled a trip to New Hampshire for next month to meet with constituents in the state that failed him in January 2008, when he placed fourth in the Republican presidential primary.
If my choices were limited to Mitt, Sarah, Mike, and Rudy -- well, I think I might just go with Rudy. But I find the prospect of the 2012 presidential race being limited to those four entirely depressing.
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Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
I'm a Palin fan, but I would choose Rudy over Sarah for president. She could have the VP spot. Both candidates have very pronounced regional speech patterns, and are strongly identified with their home states. Does that still matter in modern politics? Often I love what Palin says, but am distracted by her delivery.
Dec '10
Re: Rudy's Back
I don't see Rudy getting anywhere. He doesn't have a real constituency. Are people going to really GOTV for him? They will for Palin and I think Mitch Daniels. Rudy seems to fill a niche that no other candidate will but he doesn't seem to get a decent share of the vote. His brand of national security conservatism, presumed fiscal prudence and respect for, but not allegance to social conservatism should give him a natural platform. But it doesn't.
He hasn't been in politics for years, and I think more than a few Republicans who would be his allies are peeved that he gave up Gillibrand's seat for this longshot vanity run.
Also, he's a mayor. A lot of Republicans don't have experience with a big-city mayor. Most of us don't know who our mayor is and he/she doesn't effect our lives the way a Bloomberg or a Daley does. Moreover, big cities are supposed to spend money on things that the federal government must stay away from. Will he have the restraint?
I think he could serve as a ticket-balancer VP, but that's all.
Re: Rudy's Back
Giuliani must be smoking something. He is history. He does not stand a chance.
Sep '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Other than being pro abortion, how is he the "moderate" candidate? Romney and Huckabee don't really have far right records as governors.
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
No question that Republicans are in a quandary about their 2012 candidate. Not sure Rudy has any hope of charming the Tea Party movement into fawning obedience despite his strong law and order and presumably equally strong foreign policy positions.
I think one way to approach the candidate conundrum is to essentially sneak up on it and flesh out prospective key cabinet positions first and then see who is left for the top spot. I humbly submit my list which I am confident will receive a plethora of critical piercing arrows.
Secretary of State: Newt Gingrich
Secretary of Defense: Charles Peña (bio)
Secretary of the Treasury: Larry Kudlow
Secretary of the Interior: Sarah Palin
Secretary of Education: Mike Huckabee (with a mandate to shut it down)
Secretary of Homeland Security: Steve Emerson or Andrew McCarthy
Attorney General: Rudy Giuliani or Andrew McCarthy
Vice President: Marco Rubio
This leaves the following viable candidates left for the top spot: Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, John Thune
Nov '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Of those four I’d take Palin in a heartbeat. Her problem-solving skills while governor of Alaska have never received the attention they deserve. And her mindset is for more liberty, not less. She believes government should not be micromanaging the economy or the private lives of individuals. She would keep her oath to follow the Constitution. What a concept.
I respect Rudy and would take him any day over Mitt or Chuckaby. I’d like to see him as FBI chief or head of homeland security. But Rudy has a authoritarian streak that can be dangerous and I would not like to see him with the power of the presidency. He can be a useful pit bull but he needs a short chain.
As mayor of NYC he was confiscating automobiles for a first time simple DUI with no aggravating factors. The DUI laws are harsh enough and the authorities already have plenty of incentive to overreach. Forfeiture of a $50,000 automobile went too far. Rudy was all for it.
[Just in case anyone wonders: NO, I’ve never had a DUI nor a car forfeited. I have no axe to grind.]
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Diane Ellis, Ed.: From the NY Post:
The NY Post is positioning Mitt Romney as a "far-right" candidate? Really? Does the Romney team have a mole at the NY Post who has the mission of making him more palatable to Palin's and Huckabee's constituencies?
Sep '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Agreed. I would make a case against Rudy, but I won't because he doesn't stand a chance anyway.
Nov '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Sorry, Rudy is just too smarmy.
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Brian, you can't have Chris Christie as president until he cleans up the mess in New Jersey. We've waited decades for a governor like him.
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Palin should be rightfully applauded for everything she has done to help energize the conservative resurgence (Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama can share the rest of the credit) but one must ask oneself whether Palin is a student of history, has any tangible intellectual curiosity or indeed the intellectual prowess that Ronald Reagan had. Sorry, as much as I admire Palin's tenacity, she doesn't have it as much as others would "hopey" that she would. I haven't seen anything that tells me that she has a foundation in world history...and that should concern anyone promoting her to be the world's pre-eminent world leader.
Prior to the mid-term election Palin should have been doing everything she could have to educate herself on world affairs, global economics, national security, etc. and been seen spending a good deal of time with experts in these fields. Instead she is starring in her own reality TV show tenuously tip toeing over glaciers, shooting reindeer, or paddling near grizzlies. Great optics. Has nothing to do with the job she may assume.
...more...
Edited on Jan 7, 2011 at 9:38amNov '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Whatever else they may be, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are not "far-right candidates." To say such a thing suggests that, for all his tough talk, Rudy is a very squishy RINO, indeed. He is not the candidate we need. Neither are Romney and Huckabee.
Sarah Palin would be the ideal candidate if she had not been so thoroughly demonized by the MSM — an unprecedented campaign of personal destruction so intense and all-pervading that it has infected even a significant number of Ricochet members. Need I remind you that, as the Republican VP candidate in 2008, Palin had a much stronger resume than Obama, the Democratic Presidential candidate?
What we need, desperately, is an unapologetic fighter like Chris Christie — pugnacious but very likeable. My vote goes to the Big Boy.
As I commented elsewhere, unless the GOP produces a serious candidate, Obama will coast to re-election in 2012. Then the game is over.
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
...more on Palin...
She made ONE speech to a business group in Hong Kong and since then has done nothing to convey that she is prepared to share the stage with America's allies or confront our adversaries or speak intelligently about the financial crisis in Europe, how to deal with the Iranians and the North Koreans while still preserving a relationship with China...since we do owe them a bit of money.
At the moment, for better or worse, and IMHO there are only two prospective candidates that have the intellectual stature and are articulate enough to corner Obama in a debate and to be effective world leaders - Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. I have no confidence that Palin could debate Obama without somehow muffing it or saying something idiotic like Gerald Ford had done when he faced Carter: "There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe, and there never will be under a Ford administration."
Nov '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Lady Kurobara:
Sarah Palin would be the ideal candidate if she had not been so thoroughly demonized by the MSM —
That standard effectively eliminates all Republican women.
[Unless they’re liberals and criticize other Republicans, of course.]
Edited on Jan 7, 2011 at 9:51amJun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Christie is an argument to support human cloning. California could use him as well instead we have a liberal has-been who still hasn't a clue on where to start or what to do on getting California's fiscal house in order.
Nov '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Brian Watt: I think one way to approach the candidate conundrum is to essentially sneak up on it and flesh out prospective key cabinet positions first and then see who is left for the top spot. I humbly submit my list which I am confident will receive a plethora of critical piercing arrows.
Secretary of State: Newt Gingrich
Secretary of Defense: Charles Peña (bio)
Secretary of the Treasury: Larry Kudlow
Secretary of the Interior: Sarah Palin
Secretary of Education: Mike Huckabee (with a mandate to shut it down)
Secretary of Homeland Security: Steve Emerson or Andrew McCarthy
Attorney General: Rudy Giuliani or Andrew McCarthy
Vice President: Marco Rubio
This leaves the following viable candidates left for the top spot: Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, John Thune.
That is actually a pretty plausible list. I like it. How about UN Ambassador? It would be fun to watch Chris Christie in that post.
I simply cannot work up any enthusiasm for Thune, Romney or Daniels. I know that Daniels is something of a Ricochet favorite, but he cannot win in a general election. Forgive me for pointing out the harsh truth.
May '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Didn't Giuliani lead what George Will called the most conservative mayorship of a major city in history? That ain't nothing, and if true, it makes him more conservative in his actual governance than either Romney or Huckabee, and maybe Palin, too.
On the abortion issue, I'm pro-life but would support Giuliani without reservation if he would make one simple concession on the issue: that it should be left to the states--that is, he can go ahead and be pro-choice, but while being anti-Roe. If he's a "strict constructionist," as he claims, then this should be his position anyway. The man could blunt the abortion issue substantially and make a decent run by taking this tack. For the life of me, I can't figure out why he hasn't.
Even so, Giuliani has proven himself in crisis, and proven to be an almost unprecedented turn-around expert--precisely what the country needs. Against those three others, certainly, he'd be my guy.
Jun '10
Re: Rudy's Back
Re: Christie, Rubio, West, et. al.
Don't rush the farm team! I'll take any competent veteran for the first four years. Remember, as much depends on Congress as it does on the chief executive. If a Republican Congress reverts to form, a conservative president won't be enough to turn the tide. Think long term. The rot from the left has been generational in its genesis. We'll need at least two generations of staunch conservative government to undo the damage.
Re: Rudy's Back
This is actually a tough one. I'm on the record as saying I'm not crazy about Palin '12, on the other hand, given the choice of Palin or Huckabee, I don't know...
And Romney I just have a hard time seeing -- I think he's running, of course, but I just don't see the message there.
And Paul is right: Rudy's time has come and gone.
May '10
Re: Rudy's Back
No thank you, Mr. Rudy. Next, please.