Newsweek: Who's Less Liberal? Romney or Giuliani?

"Rudy v. Romney: Which one is least [sic]* liberal?"

So asks a teaser headline in the Newsweek.com front page "light box" slideshow (pictured at right). The link takes readers to Newsweek assistant editor Andrew Romano's article, "Forget 'Conservative.' Who's the 'Least Liberal' GOP Frontrunner?"

Conservatives examining whom to support in the primary elections might do well to welcome an examination of both candidates and how they have departed from GOP orthodoxy on numerous social and fiscal issues. And while Rudy and Mitt aren't the only candidates being grilled by conservative activists for less-than-conservative positions, it's a good starting point, even if much of Romano's piece is snarky in tone (which it is).

But now the question is when will the news weekly get around to asking which, if any, of the Democratic front runners "is least conservative," as laughable as the suggestion may be? Or better yet, to examine which Democratic candidate is the truest distilled liberal in terms of social and fiscal policy?

But then, that would require admitting the Democratic lineup is, well, liberal, as well as pinning down which of Hillary Clinton's positions she's taken she actually believes.

* "Least" is a superlative adjective and implies the presence of three or more options. "Which one is less liberal?" would be the correct wording in this case, since only two are presented for comparison.