Longer ago than I care to remember, I drove the Cross Bronx Expressway in a dually pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer from Texas to New England. I was going to New England to buy printing equipment, and I had on me quite a bit of cash in the form of hundred dollar bills. And the truck had on it a problem in the form of a suspect fuel pump that would occasionally cause the engine to chuff and hesitate and even on rare occasions stall.

I remember the incident to this day because it was like nothing before or since in my life. The CBE is in something of a declivity, the sides of the declivity are rock, and every single inch of them was covered in graffiti. The buildings were old and rundown and used-up looking. There were dispirited people crossing bridges that had barbed-wire atop chain-link fences. There weren't even mile-markers on the highway. The scene was out of Mad Max; a post-apocalytic nightmare. I drove through looking around in awe. It was almost impossible to believe that this place was a part of the same country in which I lived. And never one much really to be scared by such things, I did flinch a little when the engine chuffed, wondering why I hadn't just fixed the damn fuel pump, and if it happened to quit right now, if I'd survive the stop.

I talked about this for some years after, too. The Cross Bronx Expressway. Proof of all that is wrong with the Northeast. Brutal time-warp vestige of another world.

Then some years after that, my wife and daughter and I flew to New England, and on one free day, I told them I'd take them to see whatever they wanted to see, and my daughter wanted to see New York. In a rent car and safe now, from Storrs to New York I regaled them with horror stories of what they were about to see.

The infamous Cross Bronx Expressway.

Except...the graffiti was all gone. There were mile markers. Still not in the best neighborhood in the world but the sense of foreboding and post-apocalyptic doom vanished. In fact, on this crystal-clear October day, not at all a bad place to stop for awhile and adventure. My wife and daughter kind of exchanged glances that wondered whether I was a wimp.

And whether I am or am not is a little beside the point. The point is that the CBE we were driving through certainly did exist. But the one of my memory had existed.

The difference, of course, was Rudy Giuliani.

I wound up traveling then to Giuliani's New York quite a bit while he was mayor, and I actually fell in love with the place. Yeah, sure, still lib'ral and still New York, but a sparkling clean and beautiful Emerald City kind of place, and so completely at odds with the ungovernable swamp that it had been for so, so many years before.


So now, here we are all these years later, and I'm writing my first blog post on a conservative site that I become by the day more annoyed with, because I think since that day on the CBE, I've been for Rudy for President.

And here's the deal: I think to some extent we've been harangued on all sides that things now are much worse than they are. But there are certainly momentous issues at hand and the American people are rightly or wrongly in a foul mood.

And in that mood, the 2008 election is going to come down to "America needs ______."  

We're not going to make a statement or elect someone who makes us feel good. By the time the process has played out, the vote-casting catalyst is going to be "America needs_____."

That's why personally I hope the Democrats go ahead and nominate Hillary. No one's going to stand in the voting booth and think, "America needs Hillary Clinton." How can it? She doesn't stand for anything but herself.

But they very well might stand there and think "America needs Barack Obama." A fresh new face and break with the past. A true uniter. A charismatic figure. The next John Kennedy.

"America needs_______."

The blank decides this election.

Townhall rooters for Mitt: "America needs Mitt Romney"? Why?

What unique does Romney bring to the table? No. I'm sorry but in a way he's the Republican Hillary. He's running a good campaign and capable, but he offers nothing unique. Besides he doesn't look like a President. He looks like the guy who plays the President in a movie. No one's going to cast a ballot because "America needs Mitt Romney."

"America needs John McCain"? Well, maybe. I don't agree, but many might. More than Romney in any event. But McCain is not going to be nominated.

"America needs Fred Thompson"? Please.

"America needs Mike Huckabee"? C'mon. I saw you laughing.

"America needs Rudy Giuliani." Yup. It fits. There's going to be an issue of competence in this campaign. There's going to be an issue of who can be counted on to solve intractable problems. There's going to be an issue of who shoots straight and gets results.

I think Obama's going to be the Democrat nominee. And I think when it comes down to "America needs______" against the media-driven storm of wonderment that will surround his candidacy, only the man who resurrected the Cross Bronx Expressway has a chance.