In fact, I think the deep-seated animus of conservative "leaders"-such as Mike Long and David Keene-actually enhances his reputation among the Republican base.
You can bring up all the reservations you like, e.g. him living with a gay couple, his equivocation on abortion, his adultery, but the fact remains that he speaks our language, and that is why he polls so well among conservatives.
John McLame is the type of doofus that would send terrorist Lori Berenson a valentine, while Rudy is the type who would pull the switch on her.
It's just that simple.
The only major impediment to his nomation would be his position on gun control, which he needs to jettison ASAP.
Rudi is more conservative in his thinking than even he probably thinks he is. Gun control aside, he understands the realities of the street, as evidenced by his adoption of James Q. Wilson's "broken window" theory of crime control. He also understand who holds the real cards in international relations, as when he took the Saudi prince's 10 million dollar bribery check and told him publicly to stuff it, much as he had stomped on the cheesy scumbag Arafat's attempt to slime a performance at Lincoln Center some years before.
All Rudi has to do about gun control is not to make it his issue. The NRA and conservatives in Congress will take care of the rest.