But what's interesting to me is that much of the right doesn't see or chooses to ignore this side of Giuliani, maybe because they've only heard about it indirectly. So they draw a subtle, and to my mind bizarre, distinction between Giuliani's deranged authoritarianism and McCain's very different personality, one in which Giuliani actually comes out softer and more open than McCain, whom they know better. The best example of this analysis comes at the end of this account from Powerline's Paul Mirengoff of a conference call between McCain campaign staff and right-wing bloggers (I read Powerline -- rarely -- so you don't have to):
I expressed alarm about what I perceive to be strong dislike and distrust of the Senator not by bloggers but by blog readers ... I identified three main themes that appear in the anti-McCain messages we get. The first, of course, is McCain-Feingold. I don't think there's much McCain can do about this. It's unrealistic and unfair to expect a "McCain outreach program" to include changing positions on fundamental issues. [Mirengoff is wrong -- changing his position on fundamental issues is the essence of McCain-ism, and he has all but abandoned campaign finance reform.]My own view would be that Giuliani unleashed should be seen as both more unacceptable on the social issues and more strident and intolerant than McCain -- and thus unacceptable to both social conservatives and libertarians -- but they don't see it that way. Mirengoff's theory seems to be that because he's less belligerent about his differences on social issues -- he reserves that attitude for pinkos who think the police shouldn't kill unarmed and innocent people -- his actual positions should be more acceptable than McCain's, even though more liberal. We'll see whether that theory plays with the conservative masses.The second problem is the sense that McCain has "sucked up" to the mainstream media over the years largely by criticizing conservatives. That's an almost unpardonable sin for many blog readers who, after all, started reading blogs because they so distrust and dislike the MSM. Whether other conservatives feel so strongly about this is unclear....
The third problem McCain has -- and probably the most curable -- is his stridency towards those with whom he disagrees. I noted that, as a high profile prosecutor and mayor, Rudy Giuliani was quite strident and "in-your-face." Many conservatives in New York still have mixed views about him. Yet since leaving office, Rudy has mastered the art of "disagreeing without appearing disagreeable" and certainly without demonizing those on the other side. Thus, even when he's taking liberal positions on key social issues like abortion, he manages not to generate any more animosity than that which necessarily flows from his stand on the merits. This decidedly is not the case with McCain. I expressed the view that McCain needs to master the art of showing genuine respect for conservatives who disagree with him on issues of major importance.
My own suspicion, and you've heard this before, is that there will be some tactical-voting conservatives who buy Mirengoff's theory and support Giuliani, some who will support McCain as the mainstream choice, and some who will go with Romney. But there will be plenty who will find all three of those choices unacceptable, and whoever can consolidate the support of that fourth group will be the Republican nominee.
--Mark Schmitt
