So does Giuliani have a legit shot at the nomination?

[goodsamaritan]

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Seriously lol, especially since Giuliani's idea of a criminal is a panhandler or a homeless guy with a dirty squeegee on the corner or a drug user. Yeah, real "tough on crime" there.


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You need to read "The Tipping Point". There's a reason why going after these seemingly minor problems actually has a much larger effect on the overall crime rate. I don't live in New York, but you don't here New Yorkers clamoring for the return of the squeegee men, do you?

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Read Freakonomics or a lot of other Journal articles that specifically debunk the "Fixing Broken Windows" theory.

And your last point is stupid. Of course New Yorkers don't the squeegee guys back. The issue is whether getting rid of the squeegee guys had any effect on reducing other crimes. Most studies suggests that it did not.

[AlanF1]

Rudy G definiately has a shot. Arnold has shown people that socially liberal republicans can succeed

[Vagos]

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Rudy G definiately has a shot. Arnold has shown people that socially liberal republicans can succeed

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...in California.

[Vagos]

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I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him forcing young men to go off to war to defend the freedom to be completely controlled by the state.

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I'll be ice-fishing in Canada by the time they come knocking on my door.

[Nonfiction]

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I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him forcing young men to go off to war to defend the freedom to be completely controlled by the state.

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I'll be getting very high off of home grown, non government monopoly marijuana in Canada by the time they come knocking on my door.

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[revots33]

Can Giuliani win? Why not? He's leading in the polls now and it's not like his divorces or socially liberal positions aren't common knowledge.

Bottom line is, people will vote for who they see as a genuine leader, and who they are most inspired by. Giuliani's position as mayor of NY after 9/11 gives him an authority when discussing the war on terror that other candidates can't complete with. He needs to keep hammering the national security angle, cause that's what will get him elected.

He's also the only Republican who could actually win the general election, I think, because his more moderate position on social issues will play better than yet another opponent of Roe v. Wade who only appeals to the Jesus freaks.

[MrMon]

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Seriously lol, especially since Giuliani's idea of a criminal is a panhandler or a homeless guy with a dirty squeegee on the corner or a drug user. Yeah, real "tough on crime" there.


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You need to read "The Tipping Point". There's a reason why going after these seemingly minor problems actually has a much larger effect on the overall crime rate. I don't live in New York, but you don't here New Yorkers clamoring for the return of the squeegee men, do you?

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Read Freakonomics or a lot of other Journal articles that specifically debunk the "Fixing Broken Windows" theory.

And your last point is stupid. Of course New Yorkers don't the squeegee guys back. The issue is whether getting rid of the squeegee guys had any effect on reducing other crimes. Most studies suggests that it did not.

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I'll admit it's controversial, but it's not been "debunked". Obviously, a lot of factors come into play, but IIRC, New York expereienced a bigger reduction than did comparable cities during the same period. From 1990 to 2000, murders dropped by 2/3rds, felonies were cut in half, crimes on the subway were reduced by 75%. Clearly SOMETHING happened, probably a lot of somethings, and since New York had a bigger drop than anyone else, they probably did something right.

[CharlieDontSurf]

He has no chance. Romney > Rudy and Thompson > Romney or Rudy.

[revots33]

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And your last point is stupid. Of course New Yorkers don't the squeegee guys back. The issue is whether getting rid of the squeegee guys had any effect on reducing other crimes. Most studies suggests that it did not.

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No the issue is whether getting rid of squeegee guys, homeless people sleeping on the street, panhandlers, etc. was good economically for the city. If you look at tourism/real estate values/revenues pre- and post-Giuliani, there's no question it was.

BTW the idea that all these squeegee guys and homeless people were tossed into prison or otherwise "made to disappear" is silly and paranoid. Many of the homeless were sent to shelters or psychiatric centers, which is where they are supposed to be, not sleeping on Madison Avenue.

More importantly Giuliani challenged the prevalent idea that petty crime was something that was out of the mayor's or the police's control, just something we'd all have to live with in a big city. Whether this led to the drops in major crimes is debatable, but either way it vastly improved the quality of life in NYC.

[getITGOTit]

Read Freakonmics and The Tipping Point..of course Gladwell wins the argument. Think of Broken Windows theory practically, not theoretically, and it makes sense. A place where petty crime is allowed to go on unabated encourages more serious crime. NYC in the the 80's was undergoing their coke epidemic. Nothing wrong w/people shooting up if thats their wont, but when their are disputes between dealers and customers there is no possibility of legal recourse (since both are involved in a crime), so the disputes are settled in "turf wars". The correlation between drugs and crime is too strong to ignore. Too bad Rudy wont shut up Ronald Reagan. As Bill Maher says, "The Republicans love Reagan so much its kinda gay"