It would not be any republican but they come a lot closer.
Only for now. The crop fielded by the Republican party nationally reflects the true leanings of the party leadership. You could add a D in front of Rudy and an R in front of Hillary and from a platform position there would not be any real difference. Socialized medicine! What about the prescription drug deal under bush? Big government, DHS anyone?
Thompson strikes me as more a social conservative than a real conservative, and that is another big government area I have no desire to support. That's why I will waste a vote on Paul, even though I don't believe he is the end all or that he will win.
Here's how the calculation works.
The Republican party leadership knows that either Hillary or Obama will be polarizing enough for the lesser of two evils voting thing. Rudy is as much Democrat as republican, so he might just pull in some Democrats along the way. Certainly not as polarizing to Democrats as the H&O Railroad are to the Republicans. And, I don't think the current Republican party has a philosophical problem with Rudy's anti 2nd, anti 4th anti BORs views anyway.
As far as the 2nd is concerned, I see Rudy as as much if not a greater threat. An anti-2nd Republican president and a democratic congress will pass restrictive gun control more easily than a Democratic president even with a democratic congress, IMO. Why? The Republican members of Congress will resist H&O (whereas they might not with Rudy twisting their arms), and there are now more than a few conservative southern Democrats worried about their reelection options. Will Rudy Veto any gun control measure brought before him anymore than H&O? I almost give Hillary more credit since as a cold, calculating politician she might be really smart about that and lock in MOR gun owners as Democrats for decades to come. It's not like gun control is a grass roots deal for Democrats anyway. It's an easy trade out.
And, regardless, the parties need to be taught that they are pushing the limits now. As long as their fear tactic of lesser of two evils is allowed to succeed, they will work towards a big nanny state where one day (soon, IMO) you will find even fewer differences between the Uniparty. Why should there be? By and large they all come from the same background, went to the same ivy league schools, take part in the same think tanks on how to best run the world (for the benefit of the elite class), thus have the same big lofty views on how to best manage, control and govern their child-like subjects. They have far more in common with each other than they do with us.
As long as they can play us as well as they do, they will win.
I think Paul will have some appeal, even as a third party candidate, to both Democrats and Republicans. The boards I frequent show cross appeal. A double digit shift of votes away from the anointed ones will send a message, regardless who wins and might at least buy us some time.
Charon
