Those with an interest can look at some of the links on this page and see that nationally, John McCain has pulled statistically even with Rudolph Giuliani in a Pew research poll. It is a statement to how wildly unpopular the possible presidency of Hillary Clinton is to Republican voters that they are unable to make a decision on a candidate. There is a curious feeling of indecision as people try and choose a candidate to match their own philosophy but still be one that they believe can beat Hillary. The fact that none of the front running candidates are particularly great examples of a Republican philosophy much less a conservative one makes the choice seem even harder. It should be noted that on the Democrat side their candidates don't really represent bread-and-butter Democrats either. For my part, I like Duncan Hunter but he's not going to get the nomination and he wouldn't win if he did. I am a big Giuliani supporter because I have admired him since he was a United States attorney taking down the mob. He means what he says and has a history of getting things done others think are politically impossible. If you want to review the state of New York City under Mayor Dinkins I doubt any of us would have thought there was anything left for Giuliani to salvage. One can admire McCain as a man but be disappointed in his positions. It is doubtful that anyone who believes in Goldwater/Buckley/Reagan conservatism can be comfortable supporting a candidate for president that has McCain's positions on border security and in the larger sense the more important issue of campaign finance. I say more important because if you limit and misdirect control of the population's ability to support a candidate, all of these other issues shrink in importance. McCain-Feingold allows a "celebrity" to go on television in front of millions, espousing a viewpoint on a candidate but would limit your ability to purchase an ad supporting your own choice. The underlying belief that transparency in campaign finance is not sufficient to let voters decide if the amount of money coming from outside interests -- like say China, Hillary -- is good or bad represents a position that exhibits such a lack of belief in the free market and the wisdom of the people that one has difficulty supporting such a believer for president.
