At least part of the pitch to the right wing becomes clear — Rudy cut taxes when he was mayor; he cleaned up crime; and most powerful of all the arguments, he can beat Hilary Clinton.
Of course, as of right now, John McCain beats Hilary Clinton in the polls, too, and McCain has been making pitches to the right wing, too.
It’s too early to know that these kinds of numbers are reliable, but the argument that “Hey, I can beat Al Gore” worked for Bush the Younger in the 2000 primaries. One wonders if these two centrist candidates are underestimating the RR — McCain at least has the advantage of being pro-life, which is more than Guiliani can claim.
At least it looks like no social conservatives are running.
It kinda looks that way now, but it’s unclear if that’s how it will work out. Sam Brownback is making noises and the jury is still out on whether Romney can be called a social conservative. Duncan Hunter is mainly big on the military, but might pick up the social issues, too, if no one else does. And McCain is pro-life, which a lot of people seem to forget.