Guiliani at house party in Stratham
Rudy was at the Scamman's on Sunday. It was a very large turn out for that kind of function (?50-100 people) with good energy. I was surprised that I only knew one other person (party loyalists tend to be a pretty well-defined group). It was mostly invitees from Stratham and I speculate that most were uncommitted. Rudy was masterful, and again, he got the big picture right for me: the first responsibility of government is safety, the second is economic growth. I just flat-out love the way he believes that good government provides the environment by which individuals, and not gov't, create the wealth and the innovations that improve life. I can summarize most of his discussion with Milton Friedman: "Free To Choose". Music to this libertarian's ears. He also discussed immigration at length. Basically, we must secure the border and then provide a way to deal with those already here. I strongly agree with his belief that immigrants must be "assimilated" just like America did in the last large waves of the 1900's. His discussion also nicely balanced America's need for "hard" power (ie conventional military) with "soft" power (ie trade). While I understand but disagree with his "America the beat-cop" view of foreign policy, I like his view that emerging powers are not threats as much as opportunities for our businesses.
So I'm committed now. It's just a question of how much time and energy I've got for yet one more project. I live on a busy street so I've asked the campaign for a large sign. I'm going to use this as a measure of how competent his team is. My wife is not a Rudy backer, so I've told her she can put her sign up at the other end of the yard. As she's undecided, I've promised her a McC-omney chimera sign until she makes up her mind.