Gallagher: Hillary Beats Rudy

Maggie Gallagher's latest column examines some of the things I've been saying about Guiliani and the potential third party bolt by values voters. Seems I'm not the only one who isn't buying the "Yeah, he may be pro-abortion and pro-homosexual, but he'll appoint judges who honor the Constitution."

And the Supreme Court is not the only issue of concern to social conservatives. What will Rudy do if and when a resurgent Democrat majority tries to repeal the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal funding for abortion? Or for that matter overturns the federal definition of marriage in the Defense of Marriage Act? Will Rudy spend his political capital on vetoing either of these? He's made us no promises. Instead, he's counting on widespread self-delusion and cognitive dissonance to carry enough social conservatives to win the nomination.

Gallagher also sees through that "he's the only one who can beat Hillary" smoke screen:

The halo of "America's Mayor" is already slipping. For months, polls showed Rudy Giuliani leading Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup, but by June of this year that lead had begun to evaporate. The latest poll, conducted in late September by ABC News and The Washington Post, shows Hillary Clinton beating Rudy Giuliani by eight points. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney trails Clinton in a head-to-head matchup in the latest Rasmussen poll by only nine points. One point better than Romney does not a convincing argument make for abandoning all principles.

And that's before Christian conservative leaders bolt the party, which has abandoned them on abortion, to run a third-party candidate.

A little political realism, please. If you think a candidate who breaks up the Republican Party is the best man to lead the nation, vote for Rudy. But don't imagine, it's going to be easy to elect him.

But it's starting to look like Guiliani's losing steam on a number of fronts, according to the latest polls. Maybe people are starting to wake up to the realization that Guiliani's not the best person to represent Republican values...especially when he doesn't share so many of them.