"Incompatible with republican institutions"

Small "r," mind you.

You cannot make this shit up:

Re: McCain [Mark Krikorian]

Jonah: I think you may mistake the conservative discomfort about McCain. Speaking for myself, my problem with McCain isn't about policy specifics—I abhor his immigration views, obviously, but then I held my nose and voted for W last time, and could see myself, under certain narrow, special circumstances, voting for Giuliani, and they're both as bad as McCain on immigration. Rather, the things people point to—the maverick stuff, the moral preening for the media, limits on the First Amendment, maybe even Kyoto—are symptoms of a larger problem; specifically, that he's a bonapartist or, as Grover puts it, a caesarist. I don't mean just that he has a big ego and thinks he's the greatest thing since the hula hoop—that's pretty much a job requirement for politicians. Instead, (and again, this is just the vibe I get from him, I don't have any youtube videos to point to) he acts as though he's the embodiment of the General Will, the personification of the Nation, "the man on the white horse", as the French say. I don't mean to sound unhinged about the man, but his character—his political temper, at least—is simply incompatible with republican institutions.

This from someone who "held his nose" and voted for Bush and who'd vote for Giuliani. While no fan of McCain, of the three he's the least...um...ceasarian? It really is The Corner of Projection Lane and Obtuse Avenue.

Meanwhile, Rudy continues to shore up the modern Republican Party base:

“One of the great beauties of the kind of government we have, which is a national/federal government, is that we can make — on a broad range of issues — we can make different decisions in different parts of the country,” Giuliani said in response to a question about flying the flag over the Alabama Capitol, according to The New York Times.

Great quote. He manages to pander outrageously, exhibit his remarkably juvenile conception of basic civics, and give a non-answer, all at once! I'll bet he and his aides practiced that for days before going down to Alabammy.