A one-woman wrecking crew, Part Two
Jennifer Rubin has written another hit piece on behalf of Rudy Giuliani. This time the target is not Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee; it's Fred Thompson. And to get Thompson, Rubin aims her wrecking ball at President Bush.
Rubin finds the president "bereft of administrative competence" and "so inarticulate as to have provoked pleas from conservatives not to deliver a nationally televised Iraq war address and trample on General Petraeus’ lines." Based on this debatable assessment, she contends that Giuliani "could be buoyed in the primary by the contrast between him and [Bush]." At the same time, she argues that Fred Thompson will likely suffer due to what she deems a lack of contrast with the president.
The problem with Rubin's argument is that most Republican voters don't share her assessment of Bush. Most Republicans, and particularly the party activists who are most likely to vote, view the president favorably, not as an inarticulate bumbler. It's mostly liberals and to some extent independents who share Rubin's disdain for the president.
That's not to deny that most Republicans wouldn't be happy, other things being equal, to nominate someone more competent and more articulate than Bush. A number of Republicans candidates, including Rubin target Mitt Romney, can plausibly claim to fit that description (although none has "articulated" his way to two presidential election victories and none has received a thumbs up from the American electorate for a four year term as President of the United States). An assessment of whether Thompson can be viewed as more competent and articulate than Bush is best made a month or two from now.
Giuliani's problem is that he contrasts with Bush in other respects that are unlikely to buoy him in Republican primaries. For example, he believes in the right to abortion; he believes in gun control; his family life is a shambles. Thus, even those conservative Republicans who crave an "anti-Bush" will likely be reluctant to prefer Giuliani to others in the field who would also fill that role.
The better pragmatic argument for Giuliani has more to do with issues than with competence and articulation -- namely that Giuliani's differences with Bush on social issues, combined with his affinity with Bush on security matters and his stature in that area, would provide him a unique advantage in the general election. This argument does not depend on over-heated attacks on President Bush.
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