Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the most popular politician in America, is obviously considering a run for the presidency. If conservatives, who loath liberal Republicans more than they hate left—wing Democrats, will stop looking at him as a RINO (Republican in Name Only) long enough to give him the party's nomination in 2008, he'll beat any ticket the Democrats can cobble together, including one headed by New York's Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

This will be especially true if Giuliani picks Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as his vice presidential running mate. The two of them have the sharpest minds in the Republican Party. They are both telegenic and very articulate. And they would run the most exciting race since Democratic President Harry S. Truman beat New York's Republican Governor Thomas E. Dewey in 1948.

Former Representative Geraldine Ann Ferraro deserves her place in U.S. history as the first woman and the first Italian—American candidate to be on a national ticket. But her presence on the Democratic ticket as the vice presidential nominee did nothing to help Walter Mondale win the presidency in 1984.

Giuliani has more charisma than Ferraro, especially since his healing performance after the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.  And because he would be running for the top slot, not the second one, millions of Italian—American Democrats will vote Republican in 2008 for the first time un their lives.

Only 11 percent of African—Americans voted for President George W. Bush in 2004. But because Rice is black, beautiful, and bright, millions of Black Democrats, both men and women, will also vote Republican for the first time in their lives.

If Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee, most feminists will vote for her. But not all. For an unknown number of women of color will vote for Giuliani precisely because a sister will be running as his vice president.

Then there are America's Jews. Their percentage in the U.S. population is very low, but their voting rate is very high. Extremely liberal and overwhelmingly Democratic since the days of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, only 25 percent of them voted for President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in 2004. Most Jews will vote for Hillary Clinton. But since the Jews are the most pro—black white group in American society, and since they admire educational attainment, many Democratic Jews will defect and vote Republican, in part because Secretary Rice has a Ph.D. in international relations and can negotiate with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Russian, France's Jacques Chirac in French, and Mexico's Vicente Fox in Spanish.

To be sure, because she is supposed to have lied to the American people about our reasons for invading Iraq when she was President Bush's national security advisor, Secretary Rice will not have the support of the Howard Dean, Harry Reid, Edward Kennedy, and Barbara Boxer wings of the Democratic party, or of the anti—Bushies outside of the party. Nor will she be supported by those Blacks who believe that any African—American who is a high—profile Republican is really an OREO (BLack on the outside but White on the inside). Nor will Rice get the votes of those Americans who cannot abide a woman — any woman — being commander in chief of our armed forces in case she had to assume the presidency.

As for Hispanic voters, 46 percent of the men and 36 percent of the woman voted Republican in 2004. Those percentages can be expected to hold or rise in 2008.

Those voters who think that September 11, 2001 happened because of American arrogance and U.S. support of Israel will be repelled by Mayor Giuliani and Secretary Rice because they  support our war on terrorism and believe that the invasion of Iraq was a necessary part of the  war on terrorism.

So the questions are: Do the Republicans want to retain the White House? Or do they want to sit and sulk about losing it? Do they wish to offer Americans the chance to elect their first Italian—American President and their first Black female Vice President? Do they think that a Giuliani—Rice ticket would be bad politics? Or are they absolutely convinced, as I am, that such a ticket would be a wonderful expansion of the American Dream?

Edward Bernard Glick   6 6 06