The 2008 presidential contest could be a nightmare for the religious right.

That’s because it might end up being a race between a woman who stayed with her unfaithful husband and held her family together, and a man who walked away from two wives and splintered both families.

If you think such a choice is a no-brainer for conservatives, you’re wrong. Not when the woman is Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton, of New York, and the man is former New York City Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

According to a recent USA Today/Gallup Poll, Clinton and Giuliani have opened up wide leads over their rivals for each party’s presidential nomination. Clinton, widely reviled by right-wingers who think she’s too liberal and was too forgiving of her adulterous husband, has a 19 percentage point lead over Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

Giuliani, who became known as “America’s mayor” for his leadership of New York following the 2001 terrorist attacks, has become the darling of Republicans at a time when the party has few other heroes.

And that puts the party’s Christian conservative base between a political rock and a hard place.

As much as they want to keep the White House in Republican hands, Christian conservatives would have to swallow hard to rally around Giuliani. That’s because in winning election twice as mayor of New York, a heavily Democratic city, Giuliani took positions on social issues that were closer to Jesse Jackson than Ronald Reagan.

Giuliani told New York voters he supports abortion rights and gay rights – positions he recently has tried to temper but not recant. During an appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live on Wednesday night, Giuliani said he personally opposes abortion and would appoint abortion opponents to the federal bench. He also said that while he supports gay rights, he opposes same-sex marriage.

It’s not clear if that waffling will be enough to satisfy right-wing conservatives. Opposition to abortion has long been part of the road map for Republicans who win their party’s presidential nomination. And in 2004, the Republican Party platform rejected not only gay marriage, but benefits for same-sex couples, the centerpiece of the push for gay rights.

Christian conservatives might steel themselves to accept Giuliani’s position on these issues, but many will find it more difficult to overlook his history of marital woes.

With the ascension of the religious right within the GOP, “family values” has become the social equivalent of the party’s “no-tax pledge.” For most Republican Party office seekers, these are immutable positions.

When former President Clinton’s adulterous affair with Monica Lewinski was discovered, he was widely attacked by right-wingers who decried his immorality. Some of their staunchest supporters in Congress led the effort to impeach Clinton for lying about his involvement with the White House intern.

But so far, the religious right has been largely silent on Giuliani’s “morality” issues. His first marriage to his second cousin lasted 14 years and ended in annulment. His second marriage ended much more unceremoniously.

That breakup was heavily covered by the New York media when Giuliani’s then-wife sought a court order to keep Giuliani from bringing his girlfriend into the mayoral residence. Giuliani responded by cutting his wife’s official staff (she was New York’s first lady) and reducing the size of her police protection detail.

All of this is certain to be relived in the media should Giuliani win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. And right-wing religious conservatives will be faced with a tough choice – one that surely will cause them to have a lot of sleepless night.