'Didn't Seem Possible'
by Ryan Sager
Thu, 9 Aug 2007 at 2:20 PM
updated Thu, 9 Aug 2007 at 2:28 PM
Longtime Rudy Giuliani skeptic Charlie Cook starts to come around to the conclusion that maybe — just maybe — the longtime Republican frontrunner has a chance at the nomination:
"McCain's decline has afforded Giuliani an opportunity to stabilize and revitalize support after what had amounted to a three-month dive. Giuliani's fall had threatened to drop him into second place behind Thompson, who has seen his surging support level off of late. Giuliani still has huge obstacles ahead of him, not the least of which are his positions on cultural issues and his personal life. But he now has a chance to right his ship in a way that didn't seem possible when his numbers began to tank" — political handicapper Charlie Cook on the widening of Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani's lead over their respective rivals, writing at NationalJournal.com.
Of course, it only "didn't seem possible" to Mr. Cook. To those willing to break out of the "social conservatives can only vote on abortion" and "McCain is the presumptive frontrunner" model, it's looked quite possible for a while. What's more, the famous "Rudy slide" has been exaggerated. His numbers went down because A) he came in at a ludicrously high level of support in February, and B) a major new candidate has sucked up some support. Things are shaking out more now and stabilizing. What's more, as candidates drop out (up to and including John McCain), a lot of their support is headed to Rudy.
(via OpinionJournal's Political Diary)
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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