Rudy Giuliani took another step closer today to officially announcing his candidacy for the presidency. The only thing standing in his way is a few million socially conservative voters.

More than most voters, social conservatives tend, most probably, to vote their values and principles. They tend, usually, to stay home on election day rather than vote for a candidate whose values don’t jibe with theirs. Far be it from me to criticize these voters for standing by their principles; someone in the Republican Party has to remain true to some conservative principles. But…

Among the many fabulous things Antonin Scalia has said, there is this: that while he finds flag burning personally repugnant, it is, to him, clearly political speech and is therefore protected by the First Amendment. That is to say, he does not let his personal feelings sway his judicial views.

In the same regard, it is irrelevant what Mayor Giuliani’s personal views on abortion might be, as long as he promises to nominate judges and justices who will be textualists and originalists. A president who is pro-choice but nominates strict constructionists to the court is of more value to the conservative and pro-life causes than a pro-life president who nominates so-called moderates to the court. Not to mention a liberal president who will nominate “living document” flexible flyers to the court. Second Amendment rights, for that matter, are more likely to be preserved by a court dominated by constructionists rather than flexible flyers, irrespective of any particular president’s views.

Why not apply the “Scalia Rule” to Giuliani? Let his personal views matter less than his commitment to adhere to conservative principles in appointing nominees to the courts. Let Rudy Giuliani’s candidacy be judged by his performance as mayor and on his stated views, whatever they will be, on critical policy issues facing the nation during the next 21 months.
It happens that there are other issues of vital importance to the well-being of the country in addition to the rights of the Unborn. The threat of Islamist terror being one.

Let us not, in haste, reject a candidate who might prove to be a stalwart warrior in the war on terror, just because his social views hew to the left of the Base. Perfect, is has been said, is often the enemy of good enough. Republicans seeking the Perfect Candidate will deliver the White House to someone that most of us would say is not good enough. And this world has become too dangerous a place to risk a President Clinton or Obama.
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