On The Trail: Reconsidering Rudy
The hardest candidacy to figure out of either party's presidential front-runners is that of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R).
Giuliani has shown simultaneous strength (in the polls) and weakness (slow on the staffing front) in these early stages of the primary race. It seems his interest in a presidential campaign fluctuates by the hour.
As someone who, at times, has been dismissive of the likelihood that Giuliani can win the GOP nod, I have found myself reconsidering that possibility after watching the ideological torture being inflicted on former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).
As our biweekly White House rankings indicate, I believe Arizona Sen. John McCain is the GOP front-runner, because he is showing strength in finances, organization and the polls. And then there's the history: The GOP has nominated its second-place finisher from the previous primary battle in three of the last four contested nomination fights (1980, 1988 and 1996).
Still, it seems that the Republican Party has an opening for a conservative alternative to fill. National Review's Kate O'Beirne believes the GOP always ends up nominating the most "electable conservative" -- not just someone perceived as the "most electable" (e.g., McCain). But lately, Romney has become the candidate attempting to carve out the "electable conservative" niche with what some might label "born-again conservatism."
For Romney, this move has caused all sorts of grief because he's had to deal with Massachusetts-style flip-flopping charges. It's one thing to evolve ideologically from, say, a 1994 Senate race, but the current issue of the Weekly Standard detailing Romney's "conversion" on abortion since 2002 seems like a bit too quick of a move for some to take as genuine. Indeed, he's taking hits from Republican contenders both to the right and left of him; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback publicly question this allegedly campaign-inspired conversion, while McCain's friends quickly play up the convictions contrast. [CHUCK TODD]