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You ask: "If Fred Thomspon can "change his mind" about CFR, and still be the Great White Hope here, why can't Rudy evolve too??"

because Rudy still supports CFR and thinks the First Amendment is as subjective as art and should be defined only by controlling authorities - an idea for which he was bitch-slapped by the courts for, although I'm glad of his challenge and commend him of his effort to defund the BMoA (and others) of their crappy art shows.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/08/deconstructing_giuliani.html

“The First Amendment

Many conservatives despise McCain for his leading role in passing campaign-finance reform, which they see as an abomination of the First Amendment. But Giuliani is an ardent supporter of campaign finance reform as well. As he was contemplating a run for the Senate in 2000, Giuliani told Wolf Blitzer that he was a “very, very strong supporter of Campaign Finance Reform,” adding that he’d been “a very strong supporter of McCain-Feingold for a long, long time now.”

Rudy’s support for McCain-Feingold is only part of the reason free speech lawyer Floyd Abrams once characterized Giuliani as “deeply contemptuous of the First Amendment.” For example, in 1997, Giuliani went to court to try and force New York Magazine to take down an ad campaign appearing on city buses that ribbed him by proclaiming that the magazine was “probably the only good thing in New York that Rudy hasn’t taken credit for.” Rudy’s court challenge against the magazine failed.

In 1999, Giuliani made headlines by trying to cut off public funding for the Brooklyn Museum of Art after an exhibit featured a portrait of the Virgin Mary decorated with elephant dung. Giuliani was again rebuffed in court on First Amendment grounds, but he subsequently formed a “decency commission” to issue a set of recommended standards for local museums that receive city money.

Incidentally, while this last example may be the sort of free speech impingement that scores points with religious conservatives, it nevertheless points out a pattern of behavior that makes it very hard to argue that Rudy somehow has a greater reverence for the First Amendment than McCain. It should also make pure free speech libertarians like Sager blush with embarrassment for constantly deriding McCain over First Amendment issues while heaping unqualified praise on Giuliani."

Rudy still supports McCain-Feingold and thinks it's good policy. Giuliani has a host of other negatives that exacerbates his desire to see free speech squelched. One strike, the ballgame continues on - with Giuliani, with as many as he already has against himself it's best he's taken out of the game altogether.