Rudy Inspires Fear: That Might Get Him Elected

I'm reading this Drudge-linked article in the New York Observer about Rudy's terror-inducing tenure in New York City. Liberals and progressives there remain "in denial" about his ability to win the Republican nomination and the whole kit and kaboodle.

Of course Rudy can win! At a talk he gave in Houston, he received adoring standing ovations. Plural. The crowd was overwhelmingly conservative. But this is the argument against Rudy:

Mr. Rangel said that he was nevertheless confident that Mr. Giuliani’s fortunes would eventually decline, whether because of the incongruity of his social positions with those of the base of the Republican Party, or because of his unusually eventful family history.

Referring to Andrew Giuliani’s reportedly distant relationship with his father since the ugly bust-up of Mr. Giuliani’s marriage with Donna Hanover, Mr. Rangel said it was because “sons respect and admire their fathers, but they love their mothers against cheating goddamn husbands.”

This argument depends on one of the cornerstones of anti-Conservative thinkers: Republicans, and Conservatives specifically, consider "family values" to be the defining issue in voting. Even though one of the greatest presidents, Ronald Reagan, was himself divorced and remarried and had strained relationships with his children, Democrats can't believe that a guy like Rudy or Fred Thompson for that matter will be elected.

But that premise is and always has been wrong. Republicans are a diverse, and shall I say it, tolerant lot. We even have gay and black friends! It's only shocking to Leftists drunk on their own moral authority.

It is really the Left's bias and discrimination against Republicans and conservatives that blinds them to the possibilities of a socially liberal, economically and defense-conservative Republican.

And remember this too: Republicans would love a President who takes it to the Left. One of the criticisms of Bush is that he was too genial, too seeking of common ground, too caring about what the Left thinks. Rudy gets points because he's unmoved by Leftist hate. That buys him a significant amount of grace among the conservatives. The more the Left goes at Rudy and he fights back, the more love he'll receive.

The Left should get used to the idea of another Republican president.