Your post #5 is right on the nail.
How so. While Rudy and Mitt were avoiding the draft Fred was cutting his teeth in Watergate & taking down a corrupt Governor.
8 years in the Senate: Fred has been on the front lines in important issues such as national security, government expenditures, foreign policy, while Rudy was going after squee-gee men and Mitt trying to save some stupid Winter Olympics.
So please play the "Fred is lazy" card again. BTW, most people don't want an "energetic" President. They just want someone to stay out of their hair and do their jobs. That's why "lazy" Presidents such as Coolidge & Reagan were popular.