1 Rudy isn't fond of guns. So he might be a 2nd Amendment shredder. If the war literally hits home many of us social conservatives might want a tough-as-nails President to kick some Islamist ass.

2 So you're thinking Condi, huh?

3 There's a big N-O there, from either the SoCon or libertarian sides. He is not conservative at all. He is a liberal Republican, which translates to liberal in my lexicon. There has to be someone else. Don't we have a few former governors with solid conservative track records?

4 I'm for Rudy

5 I'm a very partisan guy, especially given what the Democrats look like these days and the fact not one of the Great Third-Party Hope outfits has ever done more than serve as a spoiler in any major election. So I would vote for Giuliani if he were nominated. I can't say the same about the Constitution Shredder. Not sure I'd go so far as to vote Democrat if McCain were the nominee, but...

6 Yeah. I won't vote for McCain, no matter what. I'd stay home if I had to. Or go vote for every office but President, to make it clear that "voter turnout" wasn't the issue--but that a lot of us simply couldn't vote McCain.

7 Newsweek just published a poll for November 2006 showing Condi at 24%. She was listed in a tie with Rudy and McCain in October's poll by AP/AOL. On Monday, Nov 13, Condi delayed her flight too the Asian Pacific Economic Summit for a White House meeting with the Iraqi Study Group in the early morning. At 10 AM DC-time, she stood beside President Bush at the dedication of the Martin Luther King memorial. Since Condi is in the line of succession to become president, that makes her the only person who can be called the heir apparent. That eliminates any Senator getting that term, no Senator inherits the nomination to run for president. This is a huge constitutional feather in her bonnet, and now we just have to wait to see if she will accept the nomination from the activists in the Republican party who want her to run. Come on Condi. You know we are behind you and your strong foreign polciy experience. And if Bush 43 decides you are his legacy, it will help clear the less worthy candidates from the table (like Hagel, Brownback, Frist, and Tancredo)

8 There's a lot to be said for Condi, but I don't believe she's presidential material. I saw her at the beginning of the recent unpleasantness with Hezbollah - and she looked frazzled, way too obviously frazzled. I don't think you should hold a high decisionmaking office, especially not commander-in-chief, if you can get publicly frazzled. There's plenty of room in government for smart people who haven't got the right kind of nerve to sit in the decisionmaker's seat. That's why we have advisors, committee staff, law clerks, and so forth (part of me wants to add "staff officers" to that list - I know many of them have to do command time themselves; but there are still natural staff guys and natural command guys; and Condi is "natural staff"). I know that many republicans drool at the idea of having the black female candidate, imagining they'd get droves of black and female votes. It's a cruel self-deception. Go for quality; let the enemy play the "identity" game.

9 Rereading myself, "right kind of nerve" was a poor choice of words - I had in mind "right combination of attributes, personal ones included, charisma included, nerve included."

10 I dunno about all that. Didyou see her in the 9/11 Commission Hearings? And I'm not sure we can exclude people from positions of leadership on the basis of one awkward public appearance. That would pretty much block everyone.

11 Granted. But she has a reputation for "brittleness" and what I saw fit the reputation. Committee hearings aren't as good a gauge as crises because you get to sleep and prepare - a commander, and a commander-in-chief, needs huge reserves of calm for the things that come up unexpectedly.

12 Brittleness? I think there is a NY Senator who fits that term, but not Condi. She was interviewed by a CNN reporter during her Asian tour last month and Condi came on tough against N Korea for counterfeiting US money, justifiying economic sanctions in addition to the UN Security Council strong vote against N Korea. This woman knows her stuff and is no wimp. Frazzled? If you went by a picture of her brushing her hair from her forehead, then you seem to have fallen into the NY Times trap. Condi is an absolutist on 2nd Amendment while Rudy is for gun control. NO NRA support will be coming his way if he wants to win the nomination. Do you all know Ted Nugent? He supports Condi because of her strong stand on gun rights. She has one more year to go and if the polls keep showing strong support for her, then Condi just might be running in 2008.

13 I am voting for McCain. Rudy would make a great vp.

14 We could achieve the desired results much more quickly by simply destroying all copies of the Bill of Rights--starting with the original one in Washington, D.C. Then we wouldn't need to elect "Mr. McCain-Finegold" in the first place.