Michael Barone concludes the Fluidity in the race for the Republican presidential nomination is the result of the failure of the candidates to match, until very recently, the issue preferences of the conservative Republican base.
Fred Thompson's rapid rise in recent poll is due to the perception that Thompson is a closer match.
According to Barone, Republican voters this cycle, like Democratic voters in 2003-04, are looking for a candidate with "electability."
For that reason, Thompson's standing in pairings against Democrats may be as important for his candidacy as anything else. He's got to show that he's as electable as Giuliani, who has led Democrats in most but not all polls this year.Barone may be correct. Unfortunately for conservatives electability seems to mean compromising on values in order to appeal to nonbelievers.
I don't remember Ronald Reagan compromising on values to appeal to more voters.
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