Given that both men deviate from the Republican base on salient
issues, why is that many conservatives seem to want to give Rudolph
Giuliani the benefit of the doubt but not John McCain? At The
Corner, Jonah Goldberg posts a reader e-mail offering an answer:
McCain frequently emphasizes and takes the lead on issues where he
goes off the reservation while Giuliani's core issues tend to be
areas where he is conservative.
Eleven years ago, things might have been different. In 1996,
McCain was endorsing Phil Gramm and Giuliani -- not long after his
endorsement of Mario Cuomo -- was wondering if he would be able to
back the eventual GOP nominee (he ultimately did). But since the
late 1990s, Giuliani has played the loyal Republican more often
than McCain.
topics:
John McCain
