Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post sent a not-so-veiled threat toward moderates such as Rudy Giuliani who would consider seeking the GOP nomination in ‘08. Its Post Opinion > Books section offers a scathing review of former New Jersey governor Christine Todd Whitman’s book It’s My Party Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America, which urges the GOP to adopt a fiscally conservative but more socially moderate platform (quit gay-bashing and playing to the far right on abortion and religion).

The Rockefeller wing of the GOP is dead. No matter how much lipstick Whitman applies, she will not be able to resuscitate the cadaver. And, if she and her movement’s dotty survivors decide to lead one more charge and promote the 2008 presidential candidacy of fellow lefty Rudy Giuliani — they’ll learn that the heart of the GOP will not forego Republican ascendancy by succumbing to the liberal agenda of these social engineers.

The civil libertarian wing of the Republican party is dead (see: the Patriot Act, imposition of religious dogma on secular institutions). The anti-federalist/state’s rights wing of the party is dead (see: No Child Left Behind). If you look at the spiraling national debt and, in my state, a budget that appears as though it will have $1 billion tacked onto it by the end of the legislative session, you can safely say the fiscal conservative wing of the Republican Party is dead too. So, what happened to the conservatives in the Republican Party? Anybody else think Democrats could make headway on an anti-federalist, pro-local government platform?