Giuliani for President?

Robert Novak is reporting that "inside sources" are indicating that Rudy Giuliani is planning on running for President in 2008. While the conventional wisdom has been leaning against a Giuliani run for some time, I've always thought that there was a very good chance he was going to go for it.

Most politicos scoff at the notion of Giuliani succeeding in the Republican Primaries, because he is at best a moderate Republican and at worst a RINO. Since the primaries tend to be dominated by the "true believers," the logic goes that someone like Giuliani can't attract the necessary level of support.

I don't necessarily believe this, however. Giuliani is likely to have very strong appeal amongst moderates of both parties and center-leaning Republicans. He has tremendous name recognition, and is viewed as the kind of hero who's image is hard to tarnish. There is a distinct possibility that many people who normally wouldn't vote for someone with his ideology would do so for him.

More interesting, however, is the potential situation that the candidates will be facing when they enter the primary battle. There is no Republican front-runner right now on the arch-Conservative side of things, and the result is a great many will probably be running when the first primaries roll around. If no frontrunner emerges, they are likely to splinter the vote, opening the door for McCain and/or Giuliani to galvanize support amongst the more center-leaning groups. I firmly believe that this dynamic is going to make the 2008 Republican primaries as interesting as any primary fight that I've seen in my lifetime.

My early money is on Giuliani losing out in his fight for the nomination, but I refuse to discount the possibility that he emerges from a crowded fight. And really, wouldn't it be fun to see Rudy vs. Hillary in 2008?