A Few Words About...

" 'I would want judges who are strict constructionists because I am,' he told South Carolina Republicans last month. 'Those are the kinds of justices I would appoint -- Scalia, Alito and Roberts.'

"But most of Giuliani's judicial appointments during his eight years as mayor of New York were hardly in the model of Chief Justice John Roberts or Samuel Alito -- much less aggressive conservatives in the mold of Antonin Scalia.

"A Politico review of the 75 judges Giuliani appointed to three of New York state's lower courts found that Democrats outnumbered Republicans by more than 8 to 1. One of his appointments was an officer of the International Association of Lesbian and Gay Judges. Another ruled that the state law banning liquor sales on Sundays was unconstitutional because it was insufficiently secular.

"A third, an abortion-rights supporter, later made it to the federal bench in part because New York Sen. Charles E. Schumer, a liberal Democrat, said he liked her ideology. Cumulatively, Giuilani's record was enough to win applause from people like Kelli Conlin, the head of NARAL Pro-Choice New York, the state's leading abortion-rights group."

Nothing like unearthing facts when you're covering candidates.

Michelle Malkin has a different criticism of Rudy:

"I was disappointed to learn from Patrick Ruffini that Rudy Giuliani will not be doing blog interviews when he comes to CPAC on Friday--and apparently won't be doing MSM ones, either (why am I not buying that last part?).

"If I were a smarter politician trying to convince grass-roots conservatives that I really do want their votes, I might, I dunno, make some time to talk with them--and not just at them.

"Alas, Giuliani has chosen not to get his hands dirty. By contrast, Newt Gingrich's communications director e-mailed tonight that Gingrich is making himself available to bloggers on Friday morning (he doesn't speak until Saturday)."

Captain Ed jumps on a no-show for that Conservative Political Action Conference:

"McCain has argued that he has the most solid conservative record of all the major contenders, and with some cause. Yet it is hardly a secret that the Senator has a rocky relationship with conservatives in the Republican Party. After the McCain-Feingold assault on political speech, his work with Ted Kennedy on immigration, the Gang of 14 rebellion that allowed the Democrats to filibuster judicial nominees for appellate assignments for the first time in American history, and a generally hostile attitude until just recently towards social conservatives, McCain has more work than most to convince conservatives to support him.

"That's why his absence makes little sense. If he wants to win conservatives, he needs to make an effort to meet them -- literally. CPAC provides a golden opportunity to do so."