Rudy Guiliani: "The Anti-Crust" has arrived!"
"I feel a distrubance in the force..."
Posted on 08/31/2004 1:25:28 AM PDT by kattracks
That was no ordinary speech Rudy Giuliani gave the faithful last night. It was the essence of the Republican case, both for George W. Bush and against John Kerry.That it was delivered in such a rollicking, emotional fashion, replete with flashes of humor and sharp elbows, made it all the more forceful.
And that it was Giuliani who delivered it removed any doubts that he is the designated rising star in the GOP. He spent much of the last week campaigning with President Bush, and now he has been given the privilege of making the link between the horrors of 9/11 and reelecting the President.
Our former mayor performed his crucial assignment in dramatic New York style. As a colleague noted, this was the first time that a Republican convention was commanded by a man who talked with his hands!
Giuliani loves a crowd, and the affection was mutual. It was the most important speech of his career and he did not shrink from the moment. Put it in the book as the event that promotes him to a new standing on the national level. Can you say 2008?
No, his performance was not flawless. At 39 minutes, he was 10 minutes too long. And at times he seemed close to overheating - a little too forceful, especially for television, which rewards coolness. The prosecutor in him seemed ready to pounce.
Perhaps sensing the danger of appearing strident, he always managed to change the mood in the cavernous hall with a humorous remark or a mocking comment about Kerry.
By the time Giuliani finished, he was exhausted, and so was his audience, which had applauded, laughed, booed Kerry and broken into chants of "four more years" and "Rudy, Rudy!"
Had he done his job badly, the party, and the President, would have been open to the charge of cheaply exploiting the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans.
But Giuliani has a unique standing - "America's mayor," in Oprah Winfrey's famous phrase - and he demonstrated a compelling narrative style that weaves together all the threads of that awful day with a vision for a triumphant future.
Effortlessly, he switched from describing his horror at watching a man jump from one of the burning towers to his recollection that he grabbed top cop Bernie Kerik's arm and said, "Thank God George Bush is our President."
For red meat, it's hard to top his next line: "And I say it again tonight, thank God George Bush is our President." It got the expected roar from the crowd.
Lifting phrases and ideas from previous speeches he has made, Giuliani likened 9/11 to the rise of Adolf Hitler - movements encouraged, he said, by appeasement: "Terrorist acts became a ticket to the international bargaining table."
Crediting Bush with being resolute in his determination to "destroy global terrorism," he sketched a picture of a strong, consistent President against a wavering opponent. Giuliani said Kerry served honorably in Vietnam but accused him of having a nasty habit of taking both sides on many key issues. It was a compare-and-contrast rhetorical device that was powerful without being mean, and he used it effectively several times.
"President Bush," he said, "sees world terrorism for the evil that it is" while "John Kerry has no such clear, precise and consistent vision."
Not incidentally, both depictions are precisely on message with the GOP campaign.
Giuliani followed three women who lost loved ones on Sept. 11 and Sen. John McCain. McCain, whose appeal is to moderate Republicans, independents and conservative Democrats, also talked extensively about terror, saying "there is no avoiding this war."
The combination was a powerful opening act. Two popular, moderate voices in the party had fully endorsed not only Bush but also his policy of offense against the terrorists.
And so, in a mere one hour of the first night of their gathering, the Republicans talked more about terrorism than the Democrats did in four nights at their convention in Boston.
Of such choices are campaigns made, and wars won and lost.
Originally published on August 31, 2004
In a Giuliani vs. H. Clinton matchup for the Presidency in 2008, it hinges on whether the US as a whole is more or less conservative than NY state, and NYC specifically. He lost the senate seat by a narrow margin, and her "senate experience" is counterbalanced by his "9/11 experience". So simply stated, "Is the US more or less conservative than NY?"
Now, I know the answer, and it is a basically facetious question, but it IS food for thought for a H. Clinton run in 2008.
BITS
He never lost to Hilda, he withdrew from the race when he has diagnosed with cancer...Rick Lazio lost to the beast.
We yakked it up. The Democrats can pretend to be tough all they want but the American people know how to tell the difference between men of courage and girly-men.
Giuliani would crush, repeat CRUSH, Hitlery in a 2006 Senate race. I would bet all I have on that outcome.
It was a *stemwinder*, to be sure. Had me transfixed and shedding a few tears.
Seconded. If Rudy runs for Senate in 2006 and/or president in 2008, Hillary is doomed if she runs at the same time.
No one has yet answered my question, posted on several threads:
WHICH NETWORKS SHOWED THE GIULIANI SPEECH? HOW MANY VOTERS **** saw **** IT??????????????????????
And how many showed the rest of opening night????
It looks like the Democratic servants at the Big Three knew exactly what they were doing when they blacked out opening-night coverage. There is no way that either Arnold or Cheney will match this.
"I feel a distrubance in the force..."
Yep. Crime sunk to unheard of lows for NYC, unions were defanged, and budgets were balanced all during Rudy's tenure as "America's Mayor". Something Mario The Pious never could do.
Rudy was awesome! It was a stemwinder in the grand tradition. Wish I had it on tape.
I watched it on Fox and C-Span; didn't check the other 3. I was still seething from the Muslim imam who gave the convocation remarks. Grrrrrrrrrrr!
At 39 minutes, he was 10 minutes too long.Yeah? It wasn't too long for me.
Which part would you cut?
Would you cut the part about the "flames of hell" and watching a person jump and watching that fall for what seemed like 20 minutes?
Would you cut the part about the huge grey cloud of dust moving up the cavernous streets of NY?
Would you cut the part about Germany letting the Munich Murders go after 3 months in prison?
Would you cut the part about John Kerry still having time to change his positions 4 or 5 times?
Would you cut the part about maybe that's what John Edwards means when he talks about two Americas, one for the John Kerry who takes one position, and one for the John Kerry who takes the exact opposite position?
Please, tell me, if the speech was too long, what would you cut?
HA!
I watched it on FoxDid you see Susan Ostrich? She rated Giuliani's speech a "zero", based on the fact that when he got his divorce he was the "louse of New York".
Two weeks ago she was brimming with confidence that sKerry was going to win.
Now she's close to going clinically insane.
And lost convincingly, too.
LOL! I thought sex was a private matter? Ach, of course when you're a Republican different rules apply.
•
She was a hoot in her lib-dem hatred hysteria! I can't (((look))) at her for more than a couple of minutes; my eyes hurt.
I loved his speech last night... and for the first time I really thought I would vote for him in 08. I loved his straight forwardness. And the 2 Americas joke was a killer. :)
He was having the time of his life.
He served through the most trying time of any NYC mayor, shouldered the enormous burden and did an excelllant job.
He had the crowd in the plam of his hand and savored everymoment of his opportunithy.
It was a flawless moment in American history, A great man enjoying a great opportunity.
I'm surprised - the News did a better job commenting on Rudy's and McCain's speeches than the Post. Watch out, Posties.
There's even some thought Zuckerman will crossover to Bush this year. Though, barring a miracle, NY is probably lost to Bush because of NYC, that would be a bombshell of major proportions.
Didn't know about that. Pandering, big-time.
The powers that be in the GOP really are tone-deaf to their base. They'll risk offending millions of supporters in order to scrape together a thousand votes in Detroit. Pathetic. And it won't even work.
Arnold DID match and maybe even surpassed Giuliani.
You are right. I don't know why I forgot that. I do believe they were neck and neck in the poles before he had to drop out though. In either case, I believe he would beat Hillary in a national race.
BITS
So far, I've seen only clips of the Arnold speech.
What I saw was very strong, and it also electrified
the conventioneers.
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