I Hear You

Essayist’s Note: This series was meant to be an explanation, not an exposition.

I received a great deal of response to Part I of this effort, most of it from angry Conservatives disgusted with the Republican primary lot (a pox on all their houses of cards, as it were), and many others making the case for others amongst the un-UnViables (mostly for Mitt Romney; very few Conservatives are these days going to bat for our beloved Media hero John McCain).

Some even bravely chimed in for Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter and even Mike Huckabee (although those for the latter may merely have been former employee Dick Morris and his disciples, and Jenny Craig).

Nearly all of it expressed anger with me for defending the indefensible, that being a pro-choice, gun controlling, illegal immigrant sanctuary-providing, pro-marriages (if not pro-gay marriage) Gotham escapee.

Which I, of course, had not even yet done, save for tacitly in the title.

This was not intended to be a vociferous case made for the Mayor. Admittedly, of the group as currently constituted, he is the only one that does not annoy me greatly (McCain) or remind me of watching paint grow, or grass dry (Romney). It was to be an elucidation of why Rudy’s star in the very early Primary polling of others is rising, while McCain’s falls and Romney’s is motionless, not to speak to my modest affinity for his candidacy (and greater affinity for the man).

The Race Is Still But Naesceant

As I did state in Part I, should a more stalwart, across-the-board Conservative enter the fray (such as Speaker Newt Gingrich or actor cum Senator cum actor Fred Thompson), there I will be.

Note closed. Now, as to whither thou Rudy.

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There are three facets of the Giuliani record and personal presentation that have thus far at least partially masked the Republican base’s disdain for his much mulled Conservative shortcomings. And they are all at play in the singularly prevailing issue today - and which will undoubtedly be still in November 2008 - the international effort the United States is leading to put down the global Islamofascist uprising.

On Giuliani

Giuliani is an unfettered anti-Islamist warrior, with an ample demonstrated archive that he knows what to do and how to do it when faced with the face of evil. The primary reason for his presence on the national stage is his miraculous handling of the most devastating terrorist attack, executed mostly in his backyard, the world has ever seen.

It has been said that bad times do not build character, they reveal it. As bad as things were on and after September 11th, 2001, were it not for the emplacement of the good face by Giuliani and George W. Bush, they would have been far worse.

Conservatives know local government is best - as it is closest it is most effective - and Giuliani in his vital municipal role embodied the “Let’s get through this, and then past it” spirit that needed to be rekindled in New Yorkers. He knew that this strength was still there to be found in abundance within the people of the five Burroughs, and he stepped forward to remind everyone that they were eminently capable, and the time had come to again dig deep.

Optimism for Optimal Effictiveness' Sake

It is this defining American characteristic into which Ronald Reagan tapped in 1980, and Giuliani (and Bush) appeared quite Gipper-like in the execution of their many solemn duties during that horrific period.

A side bar - on October 11th, 2001, Giuliani summarily refused a $10 million check from Saudi Prince al-Waleed bin Talal, written to assist in the rebuilding process, when bin Talal suggested that perhaps these little incidences would not occur were the United States to reconsider its support of Israel.

It is just this sort of “I am my own man - stand alone if necessary" attitude - exhibited also in his aggressive mob prosecutorial endeavors - that bolsters Giuliani’s anti-terror profile and popularity.

(Not incidentally, former President, Nobel Laureate and anti-Israel-ist Jimmy Carter immediately telephoned the not so good Prince and asked after, and collected, the rejected coin for the Carter Foundation.)

Romney talks a good terror game, and he may very well back it up should he arrive in the Big Office, but his word on issues is at issue (again, abortion, gay-marriage), and he is handicapped by not having had to deal with terrorism as a one-term Massachusetts Governor, a state nowhere near the top of the Islamist hit parade. Unlike Bill Clinton, Romney is not one to whine about his lack of terrible things with which to deal during his time in office, but circumstances are as they are, and he has not been at all tested on the nation’s Number One issue.

This Corpus Is Most Heinous, But Not Habeus

McCain has been great (as great as a member of the legislative branch can be) on the overall War and Iraq specifically, and was right on Baghdad troop levels long before Bush joined him at the correct conclusion. But his moral and legal confusion over the difference in the detainment of a U.S. citizen shoplifter in Omaha and an unlawful Iranian combatant in Fallujah is highly disturbing and exceedingly dangerous. He vows to close Guantanamo Bay “on Day One” of his administration.

The John McCain Approach to Taxes

Republican voters have already been burnt too many times by the “Maverick”, and do not wish to offer him a live-fire, Commander in Chief chance to do it again. The stakes in this game are higher than lower taxes or even free speech (two other issues on which he has been, again, incorrect). 'Tis bad enough to be dead wrong; 'tis far worse to be dead.

For Conservative base voters, it is a matter of whom they trust most, and of the three it is Rudy far and away. Which plays also into the second and third parts of the Giuliani advantage.

Which I will discuss in Part III ... .