E.J. Dionne, Jr. wants abortion opponents to be utterly unpolitical in their inveterate opposition to Giuliani, whose position, he says, is practically indistinguishable from that of John Kerry.
Well, aside from Giuliani’s noises about strict constructionism, his administrative experience, his record in New York, and his general solidity on national security matters.... Opposition to Kerry wasn’t based on a single issue; opposition to or support for Giuliani won’t be either. And we haven’t even begun to talk about the small matter of the Democratic nominee, whose Supreme Court nominations will surely be less acceptable than those of any nominee the Republican could conceivably put up.
I’m not yet saying that I can or can’t vote for Giuliani in either the primary or general election, but my vote will be "political" in that electability will matter.
Update: Our friends at South Dakota Politics and Power Line have some smart thoughts.
Not exactly for me to say (especially since the Democratic candidates have deep coherence problems of their own), but Joe's position strikes me as entirely sensible and, yes, political. Democrats like me will have to make the same kinds of "political" judgment, in both the primaries and the general election.