THE GIULIANI MIRAGE. If you're interested in a little pure political analysis, I really recommend Kate O'Beirne's National Review article on exactly how dim Rudy Giuliani's odds of winning the GOP presidential nomination are. If you compare the views of New York City residents, where Bush got a pathetic 24.7 percent of the vote in relatively conservative Queens, with the views of Republican presidential primary voters, it's just inconceivable that anyone could win a majority in NYC and also be a viable member of a national Republican ticket. As O'Beirne points out, you win in New York -- even as a Republican -- by, among other things, taking stands on abortion, gay rights, and gun control that would put you in the leftward half of the Democratic Party.
--Matthew Yglesias
