Sister Toldjah asks that question tonight:

John Hawkins notes that former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been getting some favorable attention from conservative corners recently and in response, writes a post in which he lays out his case against Rudy being the Republican nominee for president in 2008.

What do you think

While I am not willing to offer him an early endorsement, I think he is certainly a contender.  I would go as far as to say that there are many prominent Republicans I would not want to see on the ticket.

And there is a certain appeal to the scrappy New Yorker.

John makes his case that Rudy is not electable due to his moderate centrist stances, and that may be a good point.  But the fact is that Rudy is topping a lot of polls, so it makes you wonder whether the issues that John notes as being the crucial issues for conservatives are really all that critical to many Republicans.

Many of the issues John highlights are ones that I personally do not feel are stoppers, and many Republicans agree.

John summarizes with this:

Despite all of his charisma and the wonderful leadership he showed after 9/11, Rudy Giuliani is not a Reagan Republican. To the contrary, Giuliani is another Christie Todd Whitman, another Arlen Specter, another Olympia Snowe. He’s a throwback to the "bad old days" before Reagan, when the GOP was run by moderate Country Club Republicans who considered conservatives to be extremists. Trying to revive that failed strategy again is likely to lead to a Democratic President in 2008 and numerous setbacks for the Republican Party.

Well that may or may not be true.  The "Reagan Conservative" label is not the only benchmark I see as necessary.

Matt at Sound Politics made the case for Rudy tonight:

Rudy For Prez

Choosing a president is a gut-level thing for me, and I’ve been leaning toward Rudy Giuliani for a while. His leadership and chutzpah as NYC mayor were evident well before 9/11. That plus the vital transformation wrought in the city on his watch are what sell me on Rudy. He’ll face a learning curve dealing with Congress, true, but I can’t imagine a stronger candidate for national CEO. Giuliani has other admirers in WA. According to a new Strategic Vision poll, 40 percent of Washington Republicans surveyed prefer Rudy for the party’s nomination too, with U.S. Sen. John McCain second at 28 percent and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney third at 7 percent. WA Dems opt for Sen. Hillary Clinton (31%), followed by Al Gore (18%) and Sen. John Edwards (15%). Rudy vs. Hil; my dream match-up.

I think if Hillary got the nod, only Condi and Rudy would be able to shut her down, but that is just my personal opinion.

John, as Sister Toldjah notes, also makes a case against John McCain, who many consider the front runner, mainly on moral and personal failings.  Read it here.

With all respect to Mr Hawkins, while I can understand a conservative being reluctant to support a moderate, I think his narrow focus may be a bit too narrow.   While I do not want to devote an entire blog to a line by line refutation of John’s assessment, I can say that there are more important issues to worry about then Rudy appearing in drag on SNL. 

And simply because these two guys disagree with Bush on various issues does not make them ineligible.

Rudy has ability and character.  He also has guts, and those also count for something.

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