The Ins and Outs of Rudy G.

Of all the GOP candidates for President, the one that I tend to like is former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani. I like that he is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. But his authoritarian streak and his seeming willingness to use torture in the War on Terror is something that still bothers me, so I am not going to say I am a Giuliani guy just yet, though I am leaning in that direction.

I don't think Rudy is perfect, for the reasons stated above. But I think he represents a strain of the GOP that has long been moribund and needs to be revived- that of the Northeastern, moderate Republican.

Longtime Democratic analyst, Thomas Edsall has an interesting article on how Rudy is bringing the GOP to his viewpoints. Acutally, it's more that the times are a-changing. Homosexaulity is being more tolerated in society and there is a new generation that isn't as scared about two guys holding hands than previous generations.

A side note on Ron Paul. I have respected him for his views on Iraq, but he is hardly a candidate for Republicans who don't care for the current administration could rally around. I don't think I'm that crazy about his views. He's against the Federal Reserve, against NAFTA, CAFTA, the UN and any other alliance, and seems to have a very hard-line immigration policy. It's perfect for a hardline libertarian, but I think a lot of people want to see the government as a partner in solving problems, not simply have it dissapear.

So, no, I'm not going to have a link to Giuliani at this point, but I do know I won't have a Paul link ever.