The movable object vs. the resistible force

There's a fascinating debate thread at Lawrence Auster's View from the Right about the proper response of traditionalist conservatives should the country be faced in a little more than a year with, God help us, a Clinton vs. Giuliani election.

I can't do justice here to the arguments, and they are very much worth reading in their entirety — whichever side you favor, both have thoughtful spokesmen. If only the national political and social dialogue were conducted on this level! But briefly:

Auster believes traditionalist conservatives would be better off with Hillary in office, to get conservatives and Republicans in a fighting mood. He sees Giuliani as another liberal in conservative drag — G.W. Bush without even the latter's relatively blameless personal life. He can and does argue the position better than I can, but I take it that the gist of his message is that if traditionalist conservatives are ever to become a force again, they have got to stop voting for candidates who are slightly or apparently less liberal than their opponents.

A reader named Stephen Warshawsky and one or two others take an opposite stand, and it's more than a simple-minded "half-a-loaf" argument. One points out, for instance, that no matter how much a Hillary presidency might turn conservatives who are currently defensive and resigned into crusaders, she might have three opportunities to appoint Supreme Court justices even in a single term. Since the Court is now an unelected monarchy, new arch-liberals would reverse its balance of power and sew up the federal judiciary's power to overrule states or localities that go against the socialist, open-borders Master Plan.

Of course, the concrete hasn't set yet. It's still possible that another candidate than Giuliani will get the nomination, and I see some promise of that: while many people may like the urban legend his handlers have built up for him, Giuliani is rather off-putting when actually seen and heard. There's something cold and reptilian about his manner that I suspect won't play well. So who do we actually want? Tancredo, of course.