Toot-toot Rudy, goodbye!

Writing about polls showing Rudy Giuliani a weak third in the upcoming GOP Florida primary, Josh Marshall comments wryly on Giuliani’s stupid campaign slogan, “Tested. Ready. Now.” A more accurate slogan would have been “Stark. Raving. Lunatic.” I may not be much of a believer in electoral “lesser-evilism”, but I can still recognize a “greater evil” when I see one. The evident impending demise of Giuliani’s presidential aspiration therefore brings me a feeling of relief, akin to the sensation of averting a terrible highway collision. I have little confidence that the eventual Democratic nominee, whether it is Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards (the last of whom I find most appealing for at least making economic injustice a focus of his campaign) would really do very much to reverse the disastrous course of the Bush II administration, let alone reverse the very serious damage of the Clinton I administration to values that “liberals” and “leftists” alike should care about. But it is nonetheless comforting to know that the nation seems to have avoided the crackpot tinpot dictatorship that a Giuliani administration would have been.