Ghost of a flea

Rudy is probably the best hope if Republicans want to win the Presidency.

Not that I know anything about politics lately.....

Flea, I'm not as regular a reader as I should be, so I keep on getting blindsided by these posts. :-) Never sure which of the Senator and the Mayor you're supporting on a given day. (Not that it matters, given that you're two types of Her Majesty's subjects and not a citizen of the Great Republic, but yours is a useful advisory opinion.)

I'll just say that I'd be very happy with either of them as the 44th president. What I like about both of them is a willingness to stand on principle every now and then.

Hi, Ben. I believe if you read what I wrote you will not find an endorsement of Rudy Giuliani.

True, but I'd thought that your endorsement of Thompson was based in large part on the need not to split the coalition on the right.

But now that I think about it, you also mentioned that Fred was the more philosophical of the two -- which I do think is a valid point. (Rudy's a bit more situational in his views and values.)

I'm not sure how much Thompson's appeal is based on our love of Phil Harris' characterization of Baloo, from Disney's "Junglebook". Soft spoken, big daddy. Is his appeal our yearning for infantilism? Versus Rudy. Rudy talks to grown-ups.

Is the Republican party looking for the Daddy part of Ronald Reagan, or the ideas part of Ronald Reagan? And the amusing thing is, aren't leaders of the Religious Right trying to head off a Thompson candidacy? Are those Daddies jealous of a Thompson daddyhood?

Do we want to win the election or get our issues in the forefront?

Those are mutually exclusive accomplishments, I'm afraid.

We need these buttons, without the inflationary subtext.

The right colour, the right word.

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I like both Rudy and Fred. I like Rudy more, because I agree with him on more issues, and I think he's better able to whip the New York Times editorial board.

But it's a valid question -- will a pro-choice Republican nominee drive some conservative Christian voters to vote their economic views or to stay home? I have no idea.