Posted on 03/31/2007 2:01:01 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Flipping through Forbes magazine, I arrived at the back page compendium of Thoughts on the Business of Life, familiar to long-time Forbes readers. The following, from that great philosopher Roger Ebert, jumped out at me: "Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions never lie to you."
I'd been trying to sort through what every observer of the Republican Party has been trying to sort through. How can Rudy Giuliani be leading the Republican field of candidates? Suddenly, it seemed that Ebert captured it as well as anyone.
Giuliani is simply not a candidate of logic. He doesn't add up. It's emotional.
To make matters worse, I was feeling guilty because, even though I believe to my depths in the sanctity of life and the sanctity of marriage, I was myself seeing credibility in this pro-abortion, pro-gay rights candidate. How could this be?
It's one thing when you are wondering what everyone else sees. But another when you yourself sense what they seem to be expressing.
(Column continues below)
Then Steve Forbes came out and endorsed Giuliani. Forbes is the quintessence of logic. Forbes makes sense. Forbes adds up. He is consistent, is uniformly for what I am for, uniformly against what I am against, has no obvious ideological inconsistencies and he says Giuliani is OK.
I feel relief. But not enough.
If you ask me if I have a hard time imagining a first couple with six marriages between them, I do. Or if I can imagine a Republican candidate, or a Republican president, who is tolerant of abortion or gay marriage, it's tough.
But tough is different than unimaginable, and somehow Giuliani seems imaginable.
Why?
I have always had a sense that there is a Catch 22 in politics. Anyone who actually thinks he or she should be president of the United States is someone who shouldn't be. After all, there has got to be something wrong with someone that craves this kind of power and attention.
And, indeed, more often than not, politics seems to attract these kind of people. Empty inside, looking for affirmation and approval outside. Craving love. Craving attention. Craving power. Willing to do anything to get it – including standing for nothing but what you think the majority wants to hear at any given moment.
One of Reagan's great sources of appeal was that he didn't seem to need the presidency to make him someone. He already was someone, and this seemed to be the job he was cut out to do.
I don't see Giuliani as a Reagan, but he has some of these Reaganesque characteristics.
There are similarities in his apparent comfort level with himself and displaying that self in public. He's not groveling for the job. And he doesn't seem to need it to justify his own existence.
Whereas some parts of this person on open and candid display repel conservatives, there are other parts that, given the challenges we face today, work. Among these are courage, clarity and leadership. It's all out there for public viewing. These, along with the candor, which is refreshing these days, seem to be pushing the right buttons.
Now with Steve Forbes on board and making the connection between the tough, honest leadership with limited government, Giuliani's brewing up something powerful.
Compared to him, the other Republican candidates come off as boring political clichés.
But I think the sledding is still going to be tough for him. I find a lot of what he has to offer appealing, but I could never vote for a pro-abortion candidate.
Yet, he may make inroads. As appalling as many conservatives find his abortion stand, it is hard not to believe him when he says he'll nominate conservative judges.
Compared to Hillary Clinton, whose every move is choreographed, who is to candor what Anna Nicole Smith was to homeliness, Rudy would be day to her night. His agenda and his style seem to be the best thing the Republicans have going for them to put up against her.
The world is a dangerous place today. It is making all Americans uneasy. If it seems that Rudy can clean up the planet like he cleaned up New York, an awful lot of people, including conservatives, may look the other way on matters that, under different circumstances, they would not forgive.
That moment when, at Ground Zero, Giuliani said no thanks to the $10 million disaster relief check from the Saudi prince who criticized our country makes for a powerful picture and memory. It works a lot more for me than the memory snapshot of Hillary embracing Yasser Arafat's wife.
Maybe, like the message in Ecclesiastes, everything has its time. Maybe this is Rudy's time.
No.
Sometimes NO is the only word that needs to be said.
No way in heck. I will go third party before I vote for this liberal.
Yes.
(((((((((((((((( RUDY PING ))))))))))))))
Is this from Scrappleface?
DUH! Steve Forbes is a pro-choice libertarian. If a person already adored Steve Forbes so much, then I don't see why he would ever have a problem with Rudy in the first place.
I told my husband the other day that everyone I never want to vote for is endorsing Rudy. I made a bet with him that before it's all over Ross Poirot will be standing in front of a flip chart boring us with all the reasons why we should vote for Rudy.
I've been a Steve Forbes fan for a long time now.
It seems a lot of voters are getting on the Giuliani bandwagon.
She's going to hang on to power like nothing we've ever seen.
It will take someone with Giuliani's personality and energy to take charge of the executive and the bully pulpit.
I think the article is dead-on correct. Rudy makes the emotional connection, and not just with Republicans, but with independents and even many Democrats. He appeals to some conservatives, many independents, and some liberals.
Why?
Because at a gut, emotional level, we all know, no matter what our politics, that we are going to be hit, and hit hard, by terrorists, in the near future. The first dirty nuke or nuclear bomb set off in a major city will lead to the depopulation of major urban centers and an economic upheaval of huge proportions.
Quick: who do you want as president? Hillary or Rudy? Or for that matter, anybody or Rudy?
Rudy is the only imaginable leader under those circumstances. He is Grade-A, stamped-and-certified-on-his-forehead, proven under those circumstances.
God has given us Rudy under these circumstances. I assume that if God can forgive Rudy's nominal views and multiple marriages, the electorate can.
Sometimes it's not a matter of perfection - the perfect candidate - as it is a matter of the best candidate given the circumstances.
Grow up. Give up your parochial concerns. Read THE NARCISSISTIC PURSUIT OF PERFECTION by Arnold Rothstein. Grab the "Rudy Lifeline."
That's only compared to the other GOP frontrunners and declared candidates. When Thompson jumps in the game will change considerably.
You should be down on your knees praying that Hillary gets the Dem nomination. She's the most beatable one of the whole bunch.
Over 40% of the voters won't vote for her under any circumstances. Her negatives are well over 40% in every single poll ever taken.
She's unelectable. That's the plain fact of the matter.
Rudy is the only imaginable leader under those circumstances.
You have a very limited imagination.
God has given us Rudy under these circumstances.
Piffle.
I assume that if God can forgive Rudy's nominal views and multiple marriages,
You assume too much. And his views aren't 'nominal' they're flat out radically against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Grab the "Rudy Lifeline."
Only if I can tie a thousand pound anchor to it and toss it into the sea.
L
Rudy's popularity is PERSONAL, not political--people just LIKE him and FEEL comfortable with the idea of him in charge.
The party faithful are scared to death of that, and so are the kingmakers, the ones who are "in" with the White House and the Republican party. Which, if you believe some of the whispers we've heard, doesn't really have their back.
If Rudy wins in 08 without the support (and with the opposition) of the religious conservatives, it'll be an earthquake that will shake up the party. And religious conservatives need to understand that they weren't always in the position they've had lately, and political coalitions are temporary.
Should such a victory happen, a new moderate wing based on a cult of personality unlike any we've seen since Reagan could very well reshape this party.
The man seems to be stuck in park while Rudy is running around the country building a following and raising money. I don't think Thompson has fire in his belly.
Bump!
Rudy is the only republican who can retain the White House. That's the bottom line. It's Rudy or give up the ship folks.
These are interesting times.
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