Rudy's Renaissance

I've been one of those who's comfortably assumed that Giuliani's GOP presidential ambitions were for naught--that despite his rock-star popularity, his record is all wrong on too many culture-war issues to get the nomination in the 21st century.

Matt Stoller points out, though, that I could be dead wrong. Luckily for my all-important blogger cred, he takes his piñata-busting swing at Josh Marshall [who can take it] instead:

Even after all his great work showing the lengths that Republicans will go to keep power, Josh Marshall still doesn't get the right:

"I'm really not convinced Giuliani can win the GOP
nod as a pro-choice, pro-gay rights candidate."

Like a lot of us, he thinks that Republicans base their political judgment on issues, ie. gay rights, abortion, national defense, taxes, etc. He makes the same mistake that a lot of Democrats make, assuming that conservatives think the way that we do. They don't. They are authoritarians. Gay marriage, abortion, taxes, national security, none of it really matters to them. What they are looking for is an authoritarian to look like he's taking charge, and the way an authoritarian takes charge is to attack liberals and stomp on people who aren't like them. Giuliani did this in New York, so he's a rock star in Alabama.

I stand corrected. As his home-staters know well, he's a war-mongering, civil-liberties despising, narcissistic authoritarian--who are we to say the conservative base, desperate for the Republicans to cling to power, won't forgive him a few divorces and a few gay friends?

Of course, if Rudy throws them overboard, there wouldn't even be anything to forgive, would there?