"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.
I don't wear hats. You're talking through your support for Rudy...and are too blinded by that support to see anything negative.
Polls shmolls....here I thought only liberal Democrats lived by polls. Care to see some polls where Howie was running rough-shod over Johnny 3 years ago at a factor of 3 or 4 or 5 to 1?