Rudy?????????

Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard is reporting on line that he has reliable information that Giuliani is running for president again this time around. You would think that after the catastrophic loss in 2008 when his campaign basically withered away, Rudy would not try again. Nevertheless, word is that he is making the attempt.

While it is true that rumors abound on the internet, even from sources like Bill Kristol, Giuliani may actually run this time. If he does, he ought to do better than last time, although that is not really saying much. Think of it this way: there are no real attractive social moderates running for the GOP nomination this year. Sure, Huntsman is aparently running, but no one knows who he is. He is also tarnished by his praise for Obama after deciding to take the job as ambassador to China as well as by his support for cap and trade.

Also helping Giuliani is the fact that the candidates most likely to appeal to social conservatives are Palin and Bachmann, neither of whom are likely to get a majority or even a big minority of the economic conservatives. If Palin runs, she will split the social conservative votes and could open the way for a social moderate to win. (Understand that when I say a social moderate, I mean a GOP social moderate, not someone who fits that bill in the Democrat party.)

Giuliani also gets the benefit of having a great record on safety/defense issues due to his performance after 9-11. America knows he is cool under fire. This is an item on the check list for a potential president, but it is not the key one this time.

That leaves the issue of economic growth, control of the federal government and the deficit and lowering unemployment. Rudy has no compelling record here. Candidates like Romney or even Cain have much more of a record of accomplishment in this area. In 2012, this will be Giuliani's greatest weakness.

The truth is that I do not see how Giuliani can win the GOP nomination. Of course, at this point in 2007, it seemed that the chance of McCain getting the nomination was about zero and the chance for Hillary to win was just about 100%. Someone will be nominated, but only time will be able to answer the question of the identity of the candidate.