2008 Democratic Front-Runner is ... John Edwards (yes, he's running)

Not disagreeing, but almost everything you said here applies to McCain too (#2 much more than #1).

 

Rudy's treatment of his former wife and the tacky affair he had while NYC mayor will doom him as much as being completely unplatable to the Christian lunatic fringe that the GOP so desparately needs to win a national election. I just don't see him winning the GOP nomination.

 

In a post-Lewinsky world, I doubt that the personal problems are insurmountable. An obstacle? Sure, but not a killer. Gary Hart was a very different time.

 

I don't think it would be much of a problem for a Democrat but the GOP "base" isn't going to approve of his antics. And wait until they find out he roots for the Yankees.

 

But doesn't that lunatic fringe have one of the highest rates of divorce? A guy that treats his wife poorly is no big deal to them. Remember their philosophy: Divorce doesn't threaten the sanctity marriage, gays threaten the sanctity of marriage.

 

Please try and keep your stereotypes (that you would be outraged by if someone said them about another group of people) straight.

 

I know someone who recently moved to a rural part of the south from a northeastern state. In the few months she's been there she's told me stories about how all the bible-thumping church-goers have no problem having an affair, divorcing their wife, and marrying the woman they were having the affair with. Hence my stereotype of the guy treating his wife poorly.
The lunatic fringe (aka fundamentalists) that are the ones who are most vocal in their opposition to gay marriage while having no problem with divorce. Hence my comment about their philosophy.
Then there's this tidbit than can be found here:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?page=article&Article_ID=10961
Aside from the quickie-divorce Mecca of Nevada, no region of the United States has a higher divorce rate than the Bible Belt. Nearly half of all marriages break up, but the divorce rates in these southern states are roughly 50 percent above the national average.

According to federal figures:

* Nationally, there were about 4.2 divorces for every thousand people in 1998.
* The rate was 8.5 per thousand in Nevada, 6.4 in Tennessee, 6.1 in Arkansas, 6.0 in Alabama and Oklahoma.
* Of southeastern states, only South Carolina's rate of 3.8 was below the national average.
* By contrast, the divorce rate is less than 3.0 in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York.

 

Again, you would be equally offended if someone came here and started defending his stereotypes (think of any of the usuals - blacks, hispanics, gays, Jews) with anecdotes & statistics.

 

Sorry, Guy, but I sincerely believe that there is a lunatic fringe of the Christian faith as much as I believe there's a lunatic fringe of the Islamic faith and I have no problem whatsoever calling it just that. I do get a kick out of social conservatives getting all politically correct on this issue, though. Just because the GOP has pandered to this lunatic fringe and used it quite cynically for political purposes (while thankfully ignoring much of its agenda) doesn't make these folks part of the mainstream.

 

No apologies needed, I find the inconsistency revealing.

 

What inconsistency would that be?