In Which It Gets Awkward for Rudy

NRO's Jim Geraghty reports on Rudy Giuliani's appearance at the Latino Coalition, a conservative policy organization whose chairman, former Bush administration official Hector Barreto, apparently set the stage with a rousing introduction. The enthusiasm might have had something to do with the fact that America's Mayor (TM) was the only presidential candidate, "Republican, Democrat, Green, red or blue" to accept TLC's invitation. Yet Garaghty reports that Rudy somehow managed to fall flat anyway.

According to Geraghty's account, Giuliani's tough love anti-welfare schtick went over well enough with the business-oriented crowd. Stressing the importance of individual "dignity," he moved from welfare to immigration -- this seems like a pretty good rhetorical theme -- and recounted how, as mayor, he supposedly complained to federal immigration authorities who were more interested in deporting restaurant workers than drug dealers.

And, perhaps inevitably, the R-word makes an appearance:

Rudy was the Rudy we’ve all seen before, invoking Reagan at every opportunity and not only using "optimistic" frequently, but actually demonstrating optimism, as when he said the illegal immigration debate was an illustration of an unrecognized greatness of America.

It's morning in America. Yet again.

All well and good, but when he came to the theme that's supposed to be at the heart of his campaign, Rudy apparently failed to convince:

Yet the meat of Giuliani’s stump speech, the section on 9/11 and the war on terrorism, was greeted with, if not quite silence, a distinct quiet after what one might think were intended to be applause lines. Iraq was not mentioned at all, and there was a palpable lack of enthusiasm after Giuliani’s statement "We have to be on offense against them — we have to say we’re never going to go back to the way we were before September 11. We’re never going to be in denial, never going to be in a situation again. The only real good defense is a good offense." Perhaps the audience looked back on the façade of peace on September 10 with a bit of nostalgia.

Or perhaps they were worn out by years of brutal Republican incompetence on national security issues. An ominious sign for the guy who wants to be President of 9/11?

In other Rudy-related news, it seems the mayor dissed influential right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham this morning, ignoring requests to appear on her show. Not smart, says K-Lo.

Labels: 2008, Laura Ingraham, National review, Presidential election, Rudy Giuliani, War on Terror

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 9:44 AM 0 comments

  Notes from the Summit: "The View" on Webb and Hillary

Part one of the full report will be up in a few minutes (just adding the html). Meanhile, here's an additional snippet from the Friday night panel with Kathryn Lopez, Kate O'Beirne, Mona Charen, Michelle Malkin, and Laura Ingraham.

Jim Webb's response to the State of the Union really seems to have gotten under the conservatives' skin. I'll hear denunciations of Webb all weekend, but tonight's panel is impressed. Ingraham thinks Democrats must be “pumped up” about Webb, and she praises him for praising America. She frets that the GOP is losing touch with “the little guy.” We can’t let the Republicans become as elite as we like to say the liberals are, she argues. She even relates a story about a friend's right-wing father who called to ask, "did you hear this Webb guy? I haven't heard a Democrat talk like that in years."

The panelists debate whether Webb represents a genuinely important new development for the Dems. Is our Democrats learning? Charen, who gives me the cold creeps, tries to argue that Republicans shouldn’t worry too much about him. He’s not running for President, and anyway the rest of the Dems are still a bunch of loonies. Ingraham is worried nonetheless. “Heaven forbid if the Democrats became a pro-life party,” she says. “They would be dominant.”

They also discuss the Democratic field: Obama’s a fad, Edwards makes them laugh, but they really fear Hillary. K-Lo asks if HRC will be the next President of the United States. "No," moans the crowd. But it looks stark to the panelists: "Does anyone really think she'll lose any of the states Kerry won?" asks Ingraham.

And the Republicans: Apropos of Mitt Romney, K-Lo asks rhetorically if anyone in the room could vote for someone who voted for Paul Tsongas. Inside my brain, I raise my hand. And Ingraham asks the crowd: “Is everyone in this room looking for the next Reagan?” Big cheers. Make straight the way…

And, of course, they have to get in their digs at Speaker Pelosi. They can't believe she could be a role model. Says Lopez, "I don't think little girls are going to bed tonight dreaming of being Speaker of the House."

Replies Charen: "I hope they're dreaming about Margaret Thatcher."

Labels: 2008, Conservative Summit, Jim Webb, Kathryn Lopez, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, Mona Charen, Presidential election

  ¶ Posted by Paul Curtis 12:13 PM 3 comments