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I'm thinking Rudy's gonna have a difficult time in the primaries in the South over "fill in the blank with a non-Rudy/McCain GOP candidate (both the frontrunners will have the same South problem)" long before he would ever have to face Hillary.....but in closely contested southern/midwestern states like FLORIDA, he'll not get the vote out in the manner he needs to to win those states because he just won't energize the Christian vote. It comes down to who can get the votes out and I don't see him convincing Christians...southern Christians that he's their guy enough to get ALL of 'em out like he needs to.

I get it, you support the guy and think he's some sort of magic candidate that will win in a landslide, taking away all these blue states that nobody else can, and return the Congress to the GOP. Tall order.

I'd like to see the blue states he'd win. CA, OR, WA, MN, IL, WI are lost. ME, MA, NH, VT is lost. MD, DE are lost. That leaves PA, NJ, and NY...and FL and OH as maybes. MI might be up for grabs with the right candidate.

Swing states are OH, FL, PA and all polling I've seen shows them within the margin of error of the poll....statistical tie.

I don't see it happening....but my biggest beef with this article is the notion of actively trying to sink Rudy based on one's feelings on one issue (assuming he won the primary), allowing Hill to rule the roost for 8 years...as a viable notion of "victory".

Ugh.....

"but in closely contested southern/midwestern states like FLORIDA, he'll not get the vote out in the manner he needs to to win those states because he just won't energize the Christian vote."

You're talking through your hat. Number one: the Italian-American electorate represents one-tenth of the voting populace--and it's concentrated on the East and West coasts, including FL, as well as the mid-Atlantic states like OH and PA. Rudy polls spectacularly well in these places as well as in places like Iowa and MN. CA and OR are NOT lost--and neither are the Southern states once he gets past the primaries. In fact, one of the most remarkable features of his candidacy is how well he's polling right now among Christian evangelicals down south. That's been a surprise to many--though not to me. In the final analysis the need to defeat the Democrats in '08 supercedes absolute ideological purity.

Rudy puts Cal. in play - he'd do well- and I think he beats Hillary here in early polls. So she'd have to spend a massive amount of money here, reducing the amout she could spend in other states.

Something the democrats have not had to do since 1992.