The Resistance

Ezra Klein, who's been skeptical of the idea of a social conservative insurgency against Rudy Giuliani in the event that he wins the nomination, points to some solid reporting by Michael Scherer that Ezra says is turning his mind around. It's a great piece and shows that the movers and shakers of the pro-life, anti-gay right are really trying to lay the groundwork for something here.

Obviously, their preference is that the existence of some groundwork-laying freaks out electability-minded Republicans who then desert Giuliani in favor of a sounder GOP contender, but if the Republican primary voters call their bluff then it continues to look to me like the odds of a spoiler candidacy are good. One thing to keep in mind here is that due to the way the Republicans allocate delegates, it's possible -- potentially even easy -- for Giuliani to secure the nomination without ever persuading a majority of Republicans to back him.