America's mayor - you sure you want him?

Our former mayor, as you may have heard, is doing fairly well with the Republican base (as well as, surprisingly, with some of the Republican faithful - although not with some of their leadership, but more of that later). He came in second in the CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference - think Woodstock for people with witty insults about Hillary on their bumpers) straw poll of preferred Republican presidential nominees with 17% to Mitt Romney's 21%. Not bad, when you consider that Giuliani is pro-choice, pro-gay rights (including domestic partnership benefits), pro-gun control, and has a legendarily complicated personal life.

Really not bad, when you consider that Romney (who used to hold the same views but now says he's changed his mind) picked up the all-important Ann Coulter endorsement at the conference (here, Ms. Coulter once again narrowly avoids rehab by not quite calling Mr. Edwards a "faggot," to the great joy of the very friendly crowd, the consternation of right-wing bloggers, the belated objections of republican candidates, and the belated reporting of the New York Times).

Of course, to put all of this into perspective, you'd want to keep in mind that Romney is actually trailing Newt Gingrich amongst likely Republican voters, while Giuliani is sixteen points ahead of second-place McCain with 33%.

Now Newsweek has decided that America should get to know Rudy.

As Giuliani campaigns to protect the country from disaster, he will have to account for calamities from his own past and of his own making. Twice divorced, he has lived a life more to the tastes of New York tabloid editors than evangelical voters in South Carolina. "I can guarantee you that the majority of Southern Baptists will not vote for Giuliani," says Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. "President Truman said he would never hire someone who cheated on his wife, because if a person breaks his marriage oath he could also break his oath of office."

Mindful of Giuliani's vulnerabilities, his campaign has controlled his exposure to the media tightly. He declined to be interviewed or photographed for this story. But with the Iowa caucuses still 10 months away, Republican primary voters will soon learn all about the Real Rudy that New Yorkers know so well. The former mayor's life story is that of a man with a righteous sense of right and wrong who excels when the world presents him with a crisis, and, when left to his own devices, creates crises for himself.

( and besides... )