Thursday, August 03, 2006
THE VENERABLE ROBERT NOVAK
His Political Report (subscription) has the following to say about Gov. Romney:
Neutral Republicans believe Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has the organizational head start in the '08 presidential primary, in contrast to his anemic standing in the popular opinion polls. Romney looks particularly good in Iowa.
Cool! And while, well, I don't adore the word "anemic," it's true that he isn't winning the national polls at the moment. Two guys who will never be nominated are. It's also true, more importantly, that the national polls don't decide the nominee--Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and the rest do. And the Memphis straw poll already showed that when people meet Gov. Romney, even if they have never heard of him, they like him!
It continues:
One of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's closest political friends assures us that he definitely is running for President. The answer by this backer as to how he possibly could win the Republican nomination with his liberal social agenda is that he would govern from the right as he did in New York City.
As Nancy told me via e-mail, this bit about "govern[ing] from the right" doesn't really make all that much sense. I'll let her tend to that.