Views of Giuliani put GOP to the test

Great read (here) on Giuliani which demonstrates the allure of someone like Reagan, who was less of a list of policy positions and more of a "positive," charismatic, confidence-inspiring leader. Reagan's success was rooted in his ability to assure a middling voter (all but the 25-30% of voters in each party) that he would keep the "main thing" the "main thing." And focus on this "main thing"--which is different for different voters and often cuts across party, class, race and religion, enables a candidate to assemble plurality support among different groups of people.

In one sense, this supports the "empty vessel" school of thought, which asserts that people are more comfortable with a candidate that they "perceive" is with them on all the issues that matter. Where I think Rudy is different than, say, Obama, is that Rudy is proven in the executive realm/role.

I think a near majority of voters (certainly more than most political junkies realize) fall into this "middling voter" category. And Conservative voters cannot effectively veto a less-Conservative candidate if their votes are spread among several candidates (see: TN senate race '06). You Libs better hope that the Conservative vote is split.