Interesting piece in the American Spectator, questioning whether the left's antipathy towards Rudy goes beyond mere political differences and into full-blown hatred:

  • With the end of the dreaded Bush era approaching, Rudy Giuliani has slowly begun to supplant the President as the leading hate figure among liberals, a reality that will only help Giuliani in his efforts to overcome his differences with conservatives and win the Republican nomination.

    Within the past month, the New Republic, the Nation, and the Washington Monthly have all run anti-Giuliani cover stories, with the latter one declaring that, "as president, Giuliani would grab even more executive power than Bush and Cheney."

    In the Boston Globe, James Carroll wrote of Giuliani, "He's like a gang leader now, roving the streets, looking for some punk to bash. Iran will do."

    This sentiment has dominated liberal blogs, where a general consensus has formed that Giuliani would be the worst president imaginable. The possibility of a Giuliani presidency had the Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias struggling for words. The Giuliani hate fest has also infiltrated the airwaves, where Keith Olbermann has made bashing Rudy a daily feature on his show.

    The irony, of course, is that the more vocal, vicious, and unfounded liberal attacks on Giuliani become, the easier it is for him to make his case to conservative primary voters that they agree on a lot more than they
    disagree. Giuliani has often cited his liberal foes to burnish his own conservative credentials.

    For a long time, Giuliani's liberal adversaries from New York were convinced that there was no way that Giuliani could win the Republican nomination, but as it has become a more realistic possibility, their
    worries have grown.

    "It's totally unbelievable," Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), lamented in the New York Observer of Giuliani's resilience in the presidential race. "I refuse to believe that this could possibly happen to our country. I have too much confidence in our country to believe that this could really happen."

    With enemies like Rangel, does Giuliani need friends?


Looking at the venom directed towards Rudy by some liberals, including our own MEM, I have to wonder if the Spectator isn't on to something.

For years, liberals have claimed their dislike of Republicans such as George W. Bush was based on him being too conservative, or that he wasn't smart enough.

Now, however, the frontrunner is an accomplished attorney, former big city mayor and definite moderate, who supports pro-choice and gay rights. You would think the left would be relieved at this. Instead, the attacks are perhaps, becoming even more vicious.

The only reasonable explanation seems to be a purely emotional one.