I’m happy enough to take my lumps on Giuliani. Forced to guess, I would have guessed he’d be the nominee, up until roughly December (after that, I wouldn’t have guessed, and still won’t).

However, the idea that I somehow thought he was inevitable is just ridiculous. While I thought it possible, perhaps even likely, that Giuliani could overcome being a pro-choice former mayor of New York City, it was never even close to inevitable or safe. There was always at least one other very plausible way for this election to go other than toward a Rudy victory: Romney could have knocked down Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina right off the bat, game over. Now, that didn’t happen, either, ultimately. But it was certainly a very easy way Rudy could have lost, and that was apparent to anyone following the campaign all through 2007. The hope for Rudy was a divided outcome in the early states. It turns out that even with that he couldn’t do it.

Again, willing to take my lumps. But c’mon.

Also, the GOP isn’t on a tear against immigrants? I seem to remember something about a giant wall. And, then, why exactly did the GOP lose roughly 15 points with Hispanic voters between 2004 and 2006? Must have been all that welcoming rhetoric toward Latinos. As for the word “bigot,” which I’ve used repeatedly to describe one side of the immigration debate, I know it’s not particularly soothing, but I’m not a politician and I don’t give a damn about protecting people’s feelings. I’ve spent enough time around the Republican base to feel quite comfortable with my word choice.