Posted on 02/14/2007 7:14:04 AM PST by meg88
Giuliani is Best GOP Hope in Florida February 12, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Republican Rudy Giuliani holds an early lead in the Sunshine State, according to a poll by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.
47 per cent of respondents in Florida would vote for the former New York City mayor in the 2008 United States presidential election, while 44 per cent would support Democratic New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In other match-ups, Rodham Clinton leads Arizona senator John McCain by four points, and holds an 18-point advantage over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. McCain leads former North Carolina senator John Edwards by one point, and Illinois senator Barack Obama by two points.
In 2004, Republican George W. Bush carried Florida’s 27 electoral votes, with 52 per cent of all cast ballots. In 2000, weeks of recounts and court injunctions concluded in a 537-vote victory for Bush over Democrat Al Gore. Since 1972, the only Democrats to win the Sunshine State in a presidential election are Jimmy Carter in 1976 and Bill Clinton in 1996.
Bush is ineligible for a third term in office. The next United States presidential election is scheduled for November 2008.
Polling Data
If the 2008 election for President were being held today, and the candidates were (the Democrat) and (the Republican), for whom would you vote?
Rudy Giuliani (R) 47% - 44% Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) John McCain (R) 43% - 47% Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) Mitt Romney (R) 34% - 52% Hillary Rodham Clinton (R) John McCain (R) 43% - 42% John Edwards (R) John McCain (R) 42% - 40% Barack Obama (R)
The GOP needs Florida, and it's not going to be easy to get without a Bush on the ticket.
Rudy's wrong on the issues.
Even McCain is beating Obama in Florida!
…most of Clintons Policies are very similar to most of mine... Rudy Giuliani 1996
On Abortion I’ve said that I’ll uphold a woman’s right to choice, that I will fund abortions so that a poor woman is not deprived of a right others can exercise… Rudy Giuliani 1989.
On Gun Control This is an industry that is profiting from the suffering of innocent people. What’s worse, its profits rest on a number of illegal and immoral practices. This lawsuit is meant to end the free pass that the gun industry has so long enjoyed... Rudy Giuliani 2000 after filing suit against gun makers and distributors.
On Gun Control We need a federal law that bans all assault weapons, and if in fact you do need a handgun you should be subjected to at least the same restrictions-and really stronger ones-that exist for driving an automobile... Rudy Giuliani 1997
This is going to be a Hillary blowout when Rudy's numbers go down and hers get a slight bumb - the natural result of a long R vs. D campaign. They there's the Third Party candidate.
I'm beginning to believe Rudy Giuliani would lose in a landslide.
enough with the friggin' BUSH's already.....no more RINO's
"Rudy's wrong on the issues."
If he wants the nomination, he'll reverse his views. Candidates do it all the time. Reference Jack Kemp, Al Gore...
My ding-dong isn't as big as I wish it were, but I'm not going to cut it off.
What 3rd party candidate, Nader? He detracts from Hillary
Wow, two years before the election, and RINO Gilliani is our 'best hope'.
If he's our 'best hope', we're totally screwed!
Guiliani is not running to be Pope. It's not like he is going to personally go down and open up an abortion clinic. If people insist on being single issue voters, we might as well hand the election over to Hillary.
Rudy is a Sump pump. He wants to be Mayor of the United States.
The conservative one that will emerge in the next 6 to 8 months. It'll take between 10 to 15 % of the conservative vote and assure that Hillary gets the White House. I'd be wiling to bet that this has been in the works for a while and much of the funding if traced back far enough would come from Soros and company.
It's too easy and obvious not to do it. Have the media push a candidate for the Republicans that has unpopular views with the far right base then use a 3rd party candidate to peel away the 10-15% you need to win. That's how I'd do it if I were trying to get Hillary into office.
Who is "Gilliani"?
"If he's our 'best hope', we're totally screwed!"
AGREED...
Are you listening, Fred Thompson?
As I recall, it wasn't easy to get Florida WITH a Bush on the ticket.
Rudy vs Hillary is a lose/lose. Wake up and nominate someone else.
Rudy abortion spin point #1 - the president can't directly do anything about abortion.
Wrong. Clinton vetoed two PBA bans. Bush signed on. Rudy opposed them all.
If people insist on being single issue voters, we might as well hand the election over to Hillary.
General Rudy talking point #4 - his opponents are single issue voters.
Oh, if that were only the case. Rudy has at least SIX critical non-conservative positions. He's pro-choice. Pro-gun-control. Pro-amnesty. Pro-gay-rights. Pro-CFR. And now pro-global-warming.
I think I'm gonna compile a list of all the nonsensical Rudy booster talking points and attacks we've seen on FR to date.
I guess it doesn't occur to many in the GOP leadership that the best way to avoid a conservative rift is to NOT push a guy at the far left of the party as the nominee.
I can't think of a better example of the power of the media to influence public opinion. They are about to vanquish their worse enemies, religious and social conservatives, and they really don't have to do much to make it happen. Indeed, FReepers will do it for them.
That is true, but many FReepers would prefer Hillary to Rudy, so it seems.
Fine, work against him in the primaries,
but not supporting him in the general will get you Madame President Hillary.
If Soros didn't pay for it, it's a sure thing he and his kind are loving it.
Tell that to Mel Martinez at the NRC. Blame Ken Mehlman and Karl Rove for this development. They sat back and let this happen in an effort to disarm the Religious Right and kill the conservative arm of the party.
My vote is with Mr. Gingrich.
Me, I just don't understand this apparent hate fest over Rudy Giuliani.
Do Freepers want the Republican Party to field a candidate capable of beating Hillary Clinton, or don't they?
Gilliani . . . nice twist.
I usually see Guiliani.
Both of which make me think he'll never get elected, since people can't spell his name even when it's staring them in the face from the article.
Rudi is a great candidate if your goal is to elect anybody with an "R" next to his name. He is a horrible candidate if you want to elect a Conservative.
Bingo. The President has, at best, a tiny marginal impact on the abortion issue anyway.
The job description of President is not "Abortion-Decider". We've had an outspoken pro-life President for seven years now. Abortions still occur at pretty much the same rate. This should result in headache-inducing cognitive dissonance for the single-issue Freepers.
What if Newt throws his hat into the race? Will you support him then
And those PBA bans passing, or not passing, had a huge impact on whether/how many abortions take place.
Right?
Dude... that's what we're doing. And, by the way, we're getting called traitorous names for doing so...
No doubt about it. I used to use my mother and grandfather as a gauge on elections. Gramps is 93, a union man, democrat. Mom is a liberal dem her entire life and they both voted for Bush and they know what Hillary is all about. They would absolutely NOT vote for her, but it doesn't matter that their eyes have been opened by events, myself and FR---they're automatic votes for Dems has been replaced by...well, I don't want to turn this into an immigration thread so I'll leave it at that.
How about a Rudy/Newt ticket?
See, now, you're being too sensible and rational. That's not good enough for some Freepers. They want PURITY.
Only if you flip around the candidates.
Looks like hillary is a conservative republican now too.
That's a new one. Have to add that to the Rudy booster talking point compendium that I'm compiling.
So having shot down the bogus claim that the president can't do anything to stop abortions, you turn around and belittle the fact that fully-formed children are no longer ripped apart.
More depravity from the Rudy boosters.
Translation: there is an active movement among many of you to help Hillary Clinton become President if Rudy wins the nod.
Boortz?
Rudy standard talking point #5. His opponents demand purity (this one is a close relative to Rudy talking point #4, that opponents are single-issue voters).
If only Rudy had one or two variances from core conservative values. Sorry, but he has at least six, and the list keeps growing. He's pro-choice. Pro-gun-control. Pro-amnesty. Pro-gay rights. Pro-CFR. And new to the list, pro-global warming.
The best way to win the fight for the "moderate" swing voter is to have the best and strongest message. If that message is socialism, then we've lost anyway. Having both primary candidates for president espousing socialism to get the middle... means there is no victory to be had.
Why is this so hard for our GOP "leadership" to understand?
I'd go for that too :)
Rudy talking point #11. Being opposed to Rudy means opponents want Hillary to win.
The myopia of the GOP leadership to historical patterns of GOP wins and losses is stunning. If the GOP runs center-right, they win. If they drift leftwards, they lose. Rudy is not a drift leftward, he is a hard turn to port.
That's because many people here are not merely "working against him in the primaries", but threatening/promising that they would vote against him in the general election if he won the nomination.
This is either (1) completely stupid, or (2) a total bluff, a metaphorical "suicide threat", an attempt at a circular, bootstrapped argument against Giuliani in the primaries ("you better not vote for him now because, um, if you do I'll throw the election to Hillary"), invented by people who have no real argument against him.
In either case the people saying this deserve to have their arguments shot down and scorn heaped upon them. Whether the shoe fits you is for you to say.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.