Salon is breathlessly reporting that a "shadow group" is planning on bailing from the Republican party if Guiliani is the nominee:
A powerful group of conservative Christian leaders decided Saturday at a private meeting in Salt Lake City to consider supporting a third-party candidate for president if a pro-choice nominee like Rudy Giuliani wins the Republican nomination.
The meeting of about 50 leaders, including Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins and former presidential candidate Gary Bauer, who called in by phone, took place at the Grand America Hotel during a gathering of the Council for National Policy, a powerful shadow group of mostly religious conservatives. James Clymer, the chairman of the U.S. Constitution Party, was also present at the meeting, according to a person familiar with the proceedings.
"The conclusion was that if there is a pro-abortion nominee they will consider working with a third party," said the person, who spoke to Salon on the condition of anonymity. The private meeting was not a part of the official CNP schedule, which is itself a closely held secret. "Dobson came in just for this meeting," the person said.
Uh oh, Dobson is there so it must be true.
But honestly, look at the writer of this article, Mr. Michael Scherer:
That Other Bush Boy
The president’s brother Neil hopes to profit from his family’s influence.
Schools
Some of Bush’s largest donors stand to profit from privatizing public education.
Down and dirty with the GOP down South
Vote buying, astroturfing, anonymous attacks — the 2008 Republican contenders keep hitting each other below the belt in South Carolina.
When Republicans attack
It may still be early in the presidential campaign cycle, but the Grand Old Party is already at work on fresh lines of attack to undermine the Democratic candidates.
Ron Paul is blowing up real good
The rambunctious GOP candidate wants to drag the U.S. out of Iraq, can the war on drugs, and overturn the Patriot Act. No wonder Republican power brokers want to boot him off the stage.
Republicans already smearing themselves
Vicious mail, anti-Mormon slurs, a man-size dolphin and a weeping girl turn the race for the White House into a race to the bottom.
Forgive me if I don’t get breathless myself over this new report of his. Another attempt to break up any kind of unity inside the Republican party by writing a biased piece of trash that alleges 50 guys make up the conservative party. Have to tell ya Michael, they don’t.
There will be some who break with the party to "show us," seeing as how they did a bang up job in 2006, but the majority understand the danger we face as a nation if Hillary Clinton is elected. John Hinderaker puts it succinctly:
Contrary to the assumption of many liberals, religious conservatives (a group in which I include myself) are not stupid. As President, Rudy Giuliani would nominate judges who will support rather than usurp the Constitution. That’s the only significant role the President plays with respect to social issues. James Dobson et al. wish that they controlled the Republican Party, and Salon wishes they controlled it, too. But they don’t.
See author page
Christian conservatives are the foot soldiers of the Republican party, they run the GOTV machine.
They big money is already abondoning ship hoping to buy influence from the perceived winners, Democrats. If you don’t believe me go look up recent articles about K Street.
You’re saying Republicans can win next year with a cash disadvantage and most of their ground game sitting it out or making their point with a third party candidate. Repubs can’t win without the religious far right and it looks like Dobson and friends want to make that point loud and clear in 2008.
Complete baloney. We will not have a cash disadvantage nor will our ground game be sitting on the sidelines. You may be praying for this, but it will not happen. Hillary gets the nomination and I guarantee you a R will be our next president.
Seems to me like the Christian conservatives are mostly trying to make sure Giuliani doesn’t get the nomination. I doubt they (well, most of them) would actually go 3rd party even if he does get the nomination. But if people are going to talk up Giuliani just on the basis of him being ‘electable’, I think it’s fair game for Dobson and others to point out that he can just as easily be unelectable if the Christian Right chooses to make him so.
We will not have a cash disadvantage
Are you so sure about this? So far the D field has outraised the R field by about 2:1. In the latest quarter, Thompson may have raised $8 million, but Obama probably managed $20 million. I would be very surprised if the Republican candidate ends up with as much money as the Democrat. Unless it’s Romney, of course, in which case he can use some of his own wealth…
Thompson raised that in 4 weeks.
Once the nominee’s are set we will be just fine. Soros pumped a ton of cash into the election in ’04, didn’t matter tho.
Oh, I agree the cash may not matter that much – above a certain minimum, enough to get your message out, there are diminishing returns. If Thompson brings $60 million to Clinton’s 100, it could still be more than enough. But I don’t expect Thompson to maintain his $200K/day pace in the 4th quarter; everyone shows an uptick at the end of the third quarter. And if he did maintain $200K/day… he’d still only raise 2/3 as much as Clinton did in this quarter.
Not disagreeing with the overall picture (I think there are good reasons to be optimistic) but catching up with the Dems on fundraising looks impossible.