Rudy at CPAC (Ouch)

In the Fall of 1989, I was able to score a ticket to see the Rolling Stones on their huger-than-huge Steel Wheels tour. At the time, there was some controversy whether it was an appealing spectacle to see men in their mid-40’s put on a full blown rock ‘n’ roll show that included strutting, gyrating and 50 foot inflatable women. Aaah, it was a more innocent time.

One of the hits the Stones were taking was that the show was so big, there would be little room for spontaneity. The Boston Globe brought this charge to Mick Jagger’s attention, and Jagger responded with words to the following effect: “At this level, ‘spontaneity’ is another word for ‘mistake.’

WHICH BRINGS US TO RUDY GIULIANI. First, a couple of disclaimers. As everyone knows, I’m a Romney guy. If that means you’ll consider any critique I make of Rudy to be inherently worthless, stop reading now. May I suggest you do a Technorati search for sweet and innocent American Idol contestant Antonella Barba to otherwise occupy your time. Boy, are you in for a shock.

I should also add that while I am a Romney man, I admire Rudy. If Rudy’s the last Republican standing, I will vote for him enthusiastically. I can’t say the same of all the other nomination-seekers. McCain leaps to mind in that regard.

One of Rudy’s charms is his genuineness. One of the manifestations of this genuineness is that he wings his speeches. He has an outline, but there’s a lot of room for spontaneity. Which is another way of saying there’s a lot of room for mistakes.

Rudy began his speech by doing his now-familiar riff on what a waste of time non-binding resolutions are and comparing the duties of a congressman to the duties of a pundit. In this context, he labeled as good pundits George F. Will, Michael Barone and Chris Matthews.

Yes, he called Chris Matthews a good pundit while addressing a bunch of conservatives. Predictably, the audience greeted this assertion with a bunch of catcalls.

In the scheme of things and even in the very limited scope of judging this afternoon’s speech, the Matthews faux pas was a tiny thing. But it was revealing. The entire speech didn’t work. The whole thing was off. It was boring. Rudy entered the hall welcomed as a rock star. He then put the crowd to sleep as his lack of preparation became a glaring weakness.

Another review.....

:07 - George Will is poised to introduce the Mayor. Nice get.

12:08 - Will is quite the wit. Smart and clever.

12:09 - NYC has more people than 39 other states says Will.

12:11 - Will is touting Rudy’s conservative accomplishments.

12:12 - Under Rudy, welfare rolls declined by 600,000.

12:13 - Rudy took “the budget and literally dropped it in the garbage.”

12:14 - Conservatism comes in many flavors, says Will, and Rudy’s is the flavor of Margaret Thatcher.

12:14 - Rudy just came out. The crowd exploded.

12:15 - They’re still exploding. Standing ovation.

12:15 - Starts with a joke. Seems very comfortable in his skin.

12:16 - Rudy’s taking the Democrats to the woodshed over the non-binding resolution.

12:17 - Rudy: the non-binding resolution is an example of how Washington can’t make tough decisions on any of the big issues.

12:18 - The government has to start making decisions again. Applause from the crowd.

12:18 - Rudy says he was part of the Reagan Revolution.

12:19 - “Ronald Reagan was a leader, which is the combination of being a visionary and a practical person who can achieve results.”

12:19 - Reagan realized that Communism took from people the most important thing they have: freedom.

12:21 - America is not identified by an ethnicity or a religion, but by ideas.

12:23 - Rudy evokes Lincoln, and explains that Lincoln understood that a leader can’t always cave to public opinion.

12:24 - “My 80 percent ally is not my 20 percent enemy.”

12:25 - The core of the GOP is giving freedom to people.

12:25 - “I don’t just believe in lowering taxes, I did it…”

12:28 - The most important civil rights are to be free and safe.

12:29 - Cut crime in NYC by 50 percent; cut homicide by two-thirds.

12:30 - Couldn’t accept the projected rise in welfare rolls. Established “workfare.” Applause from the crowd.

12:32 - Changed the name of the welfare office to New York City Job Centers. Replaced hopelessness with hope.

12:33 - People are the best at taking care of their own problems.

12:34 - Rudy has no doubt that America will triumph over Islamic terrorism.

12:36 - Americans want to do business with you. We’re getting the world that we dreamed of, though one with some real detours.

12:37 - Have to educate our young people better than we are doing right now.

12:38 - We need a population better educated for the kinds of jobs Americans can do successfully and profitably in today’s world.

12:40 - C-SPAN having technical difficulties.

12:45 - “This is not our war on them. This is their war on us… This war is over when they stop planning to come here and kill us.”

12:46 - Compares Bush to Truman. Does that make Rudy Ike?

12:49 - Even great people can make mistakes, but the general thrust of being on offense against terrorism is correct.

12:50 - We need the Patriot Act, electronic surveillance, and interrogation.

12:51 - We had to breach the privacy of criminals in organized crime in order to find out about the murders they were planning. This is the same thing we have to do with terrorism.

12:51 - The Democrats want to go back to the 1990s on terrorism.

12:52 - America has the right ideas. We shouldn’t be embarassed about ourselves. Luckiest people in the world.

12:53 - America must be preserved as a shining city on the hill, and as a leader in the world.

12:54 - “Peace through strength.”

12:54 - Lots of applause as Rudy leaves the podium.

I honestly don’t know how I can ever again take seriously the Rudy detractors who tout widespread conservative opposition to the Mayor. To the contrary, the standing ovations that Rudy received from the conservative crowd, as well as the comfort and ease with which he interacted with the audience put to rest any doubts I may have had regarding Giuliani’s ability to lead the nation’s conservative party. Anyone who claimed that Rudy would be booed or that the CPAC attendees would sit on their hands has been proven almost laughably wrong.

I can’t stress enough how impressed I was at the substance of Mayor Giuliani’s speech, and at his delivery, and at the crowd’s reaction to him. As George Will stated, Rudy truly IS the American Margaret Thatcher. Anyone who wouldn’t vote for Rudy is basically saying that they wouldn’t have trusted Thatcher to lead America either. But, based on the response Rudy received from the CPAC crowd, Rudy’s detractors are few and far between — a vocal minority whose relevance, or lack thereof, will soon be revealed.

I am now more certain than ever that Rudy Giuliani will be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008. I encourage you to climb aboard the Rudy bandwagon. There will be no hard feelings towards those who formerly supported another candidate. Everyone is welcome as we move forward over the next few months and elect our 44th president.

by DaveG @ 11:30 am. Filed under Rudy Giuliani

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