Why Im moving away from Giuliani

I was ready to sign up with Rudy. I was ready to give him money. But as the campaign progressed he dissapointed.

My reasoning isnt for any of the arguments that are popular in the media. You know, (he isnt pro-life, etc.) if you want to read that go look at what everybody else is saying. I have a different take.

Rudy's campaign started out with a coherent position on abortion. It was the classic Goldwater/libertarian argument:-personally opposed
-oppose public funding
-Governmnent does not have a role
Im not romanticizing this view. In fact, Im pro-life. Also, Ive decided a long time ago that I can support somebody who I disagree with on abortion, but agree with on other issues. And do it enthusiastically. Rudy's position on abortion unraveled into incoherence in the ensuing days of that infamous Hannity and Colmes announcement of his run. He said he supported public funding. In the debate he was all over the map on Roe V Wade. This did not upset me because his view was pro-choice but because of how poorly communicated his position was. If Rudy's communications game, and his message control are this bad, he would be a disaster as General Election candidate.

Second of all, Rudy has proven to be just another politician. Im looking for a candidate that has specific, detailed pro-growth policies. Rudy has failed to give us a plan on entitlements like Social Security and Medicaid. He has failed to explain to us how he would reform the tax code. It is a personality-cult rather than a campaign of policy proposals.

Thirdly, can you actually imagine a President Rudy? I cant. John Chait's TRB article a few weeks ago points this out, "In recent weeks, Giuliani mistakenly said that it was unclear whether North Korea was further along toward a nuclear bomb than Iran, casually lumped together Shia Iran and Sunni Al Qaeda, and confessed he didn't know enough about the Bush administration's approach to terrorism detainees to take a position." This does not affirm the view that Rudy somehow knows how to fight the War on Terror. Let me go out on a limb and say he lacks the intellectual fortitude to be Commander in Chief. Also, look at his confronation with Ron Paul. Paul made the argument that U.S. foreign policy is a cause of resentment and a cause of terrorism. Rudy said he was "unfamiliar with that argument" Do we really need another President that lacks intellectual curiousity?

Rudy always had a problem with his socially liberal views. He could play them down by doing a number of things: 1) play down your support for abortion while promising to appoint conservative judges (fails on one count) 2) be fantastic on Economic issues (fails on that) 3) Be Rudy on the War on Terror (Problem is weve overplayed his skill on that issue.)

If the Rudy '08 campaign would have handled his socially liberal views well, while being a champion of pro-growth, free market economics it Rudy would be my man. Instead of swinging for the fences, Rudy's lackluster campaign has chosen to bunt. Very, very dissapointing. This campaign is not what it could be.