Dick Morris: Giuliani Clearly The Frontrunner
Via TPM, we get a leak from what appears to be a subscription-only missive from Dick Morris:
Until now, the status of front-runner in the Republican primaries for president was jointly held by Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. McCain is clearly no longer the front-runner. In the last week or so, Giuliani has moved out to a clear lead.
* McCain’s latest fund-raising report, for the fourth quarter of 2006, was pathethic: He raised only $1.7 million and has only pocket change – $472,454 – on hand.
* A Fox News poll of Jan. 30-31 shows the former mayor jumping out to a significant lead among Republicans – 34 to 22 percent.
* A Gallup poll taken Jan. 25-28 shows Giuliani is better liked by Republicans than McCain -74 to 21 percent and more trusted to handle a crisis (68-20). Some 60 percent say Giuliani “better understands the problems of the average person,” against 33 percent who pick McCain. By 58-34, America’s Mayor is seen as the stronger leader.
Conversations with conservative activists also show a remarkable openness to supporting Giuliani – a belief that he can overcome (perhaps finesse) his pro-choice, pro-gun-control, pro-gay-rights and pro-immigration positions. Feelings seem bitterer over McCain’s role in Washington battles – his opposition to the Bush tax cuts and his support for “amnesty” for illegal immigrants and for campaign-finance reform.
Well, Dick Morris doesn’t have a lot of credibility with this blogger, so I’d take that as premature, though I like the way it sounds, and I like the way this sounds, too (from Mickey Kaus):
McCain has the wrong friends (the press), while Giuliani has the “right enemies,” as Amy Holmes just said on Anderson Cooper. She cites Al Sharpton as a good foe for a Republican primary candidate to have. I’d add the New York Times. Anyone who inspired such enmity from the Times, conservatives may conclude, can’t be all that liberal. …
Well said…
What happened to Condi, Dick?
Is The Next Great Presidential Election not selling too well?
Like you said, Mark, not much credibility.
Aaron: You beat me to the punch.
Of course, given Morris’s track record, Ms. Rice is probably MORE likely to announce than she was two weeks ago, and Rudy is more likely to crash and burn. One hopes Morris gets on the Mitt Romney bandwagon soon before the damage is irreversable.
Rudy’s Running
Favored in the polls and still carrying the charisma of the 9/11 aftermath, Rudy Giuliani has announced that he’s running as a Republican for President. I like Giuliani. He’s one of the few GOP hopefuls that seems to have the
Dick Morris is a douchebag. I think he’s bipolar or something. Everytime I hear his forecasts, they always seem to contradict all the others. For somebody who is so coveted (not really sure if it’s true anymore) as a strategist, he sure seems to be WAY off most of the time. I was reading the other day that he thinks Hillary is going to win and set off the literal end to the Republican Party. I’m not making that up. He really thinks IF we lose the next election, there will never be another Republican president. Now, how could one conceivably come up with something that adverse? I’m a proud Republican and would love to never see another Democrat president, but I’m smart enough to know that there will be another one eventually. Both of the parties hold power until the American peopler no longer deem them fit to hold it and then they elect the other party. And with the corrupt nature of politics (or at least politicians) this will always swing back and forth.
Well, it appears that we’re all agreed on one thing: Dick Morris is not the most credible commentator in the business…
If Hillary doesn’t win in 2008, what will Dick Morris do? His whole life for the past decade or more has revolved around obsessing over her.
But to get back to non-Dick Morris bashing, I think the “wrong friends/right enemies” analogy is especially fitting to explain why Giuliani still does well in polls, despite a year’s worth of “just wait until they find out about XXX” rhetoric from doubters.
Jeff-
Dick’s argument about the post-’08 picture has nothing to do with Hillary. He thinks that the demographics – especially the growing Hispanic population, and that especially following the inevitable amnesty – favor the Democratic Party to such a degree that the Republicans won’t be able to overcome it, at least not in their current form.
When will our Hispanic culture cease breeding like fruit flies and relying on the public tax rolls to subsidize our outrageous propensity to consume rather than to contribute? Only when there are too few of us left to support this mindless, unconscionable behavior pattern and the system implodes. We shall have no one to blame but ourselves. Step outside the confession box, mis amigos. Quit listening to the “chaste” priests telling you males that it is your duty to procreate without any regard for the consequences. For the long term integrity of our culture and of the greater society, stop the welfare mentality, and step up to the position of personal, familial, and societal responsibility. Treasonous commentary? No, just the cold, hard truth most of you continue to deny as a function of your inflated egos and lack of sexual discipline. Yes, I am 100% Hispanic and very proud of my heritage.
[...] Palin has a good chance in 2012, but plenty of people were saying the same about Giuliani in 2008 (here, for example, though FSM knows I am not trying to compare Bowers, whom I like, to Kaus or [...]