What if Obama is the nominee?

Bill Smith and Jonathan Martin point out that Rudy and Hillary seem to be in a parallel fight. Rudy particularly has based his campaign on the promise that he would be the toughest opponent against Hillary Clinton in the general election. Maybe so. But as her numbers have been declining, Republicans may be facing a different calculus in their choice for a nominee. Social conservatives may have been able to stick a clothespin on their nose and vote for Rudy if they thought that he was their bulwark against a Clinton re-coronation.

But is he the best opponent for a possible Barack Obama campaign in the general election? I can just envision how that campaign would be portrayed. Good vs. Evil. The Angel vs. the Devil. The man who would bring the races together vs. the man who divided the races as mayor. I suspect that opposing Obama would highlight the less attractive qualities of Rudy Guiliani.

So which Republican would be the better candidate to oppose Obama? I can see John McCain in that role. He would stand in contrast to Obama's lack of experience. Obama can talk about how he's for the change to move beyond red and blue. Except that he doesn't have any evidence of how he would do that except a few speeches. Well, John McCain has been doing that throughout his career in politics. That's why Republicans don't really like McCain all that much. It's why I have been rather sick of McCain for a good long time. But I do think that he'd be better in a general election against Obama than Rudy would. And if conservatives were willing to consider someone like Giuliani just because he'd be stronger in the general election against Hillary even though they disagreed with him on several important issues, conservatives should also be willing to reconsider McCain, despite all our disagreements with him.