Rudy Giuliani's Keynote Address

This was a great night for the Republicans.

In the face of all the vile reporting on Sarah Palin by mainstream media news outlets and by the radical, sleazy Leftist blogs, the convention crowd at the Xcel Energy Center really came to life on Wednesday.

Rudy Giuliani's keynote address electrified the crowd.

I love Rudy Giuliani.

Transcript

"We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the Left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America."

That was an empowering statement, a reminder to middle America that our votes count as much as the elitists in the lib media and Hollywood.

I liked the way Giuliani used the job application analogy to compare the resumes of John McCain and Barack Obama.

GIULIANI: He -- he loves America, as we all do, but he has sacrificed for it as few do.

(APPLAUSE)

As a young man, he joined the military. And being a "Top Gun" kind of guy, he became a fighter pilot. He was on a mission over Hanoi when his plane was shot down.

He was tortured in a POW camp, but he refused his captors' offer of early release, because this is a man who believes in serving a cause greater than self-interest, and that cause is the United States of America. America comes first.

(APPLAUSE)

He has proved his commitment with his blood. He came home a national hero. He had earned a life of peace and quiet, but he was called to public service again, running for Congress, and then the United States Senate, as a proud foot soldier in the Reagan revolution.

His principled independence never wavered. He stood up to special interests. He fought for fiscal discipline and ethics reform and a strong national defense.

That's the one choice. That's the one man.

On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked -- I said -- I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.

He worked as a community organizer. He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Then he ran for -- then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn't make a decision. He couldn't figure out whether to vote "yes" or "no." It was too tough.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

He voted -- he voted "present."

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

I didn't know about this vote "present" when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn't have this vote "present" when she was mayor or governor. You don't get "present." It doesn't work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it's not good enough to be present.

(APPLAUSE)

You have to make a decision.

(APPLAUSE)

A few years later -- a few years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He spent most of his time as a celebrity senator: no leadership, no legislation to really speak of.

His rise is remarkable in its own right. It's the kind of thing that can happen only in America.

But he's never -- he's never run a city. He's never run a state. He's never run a business. He's never run a military unit. He's never had to lead people in crisis.

(APPLAUSE)

He is the least experienced candidate for president of the United States in at least the last 100 years.

(APPLAUSE)

Not a personal attack, a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing, nada.

(APPLAUSE)

Nada, nothing.

(APPLAUSE)

The choice -- the choice in this election comes down to substance over style. John McCain has been tested; Barack Obama has not.

Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on-the-job training.

(APPLAUSE)

We agree. We agree with Joe Biden...

(LAUGHTER)

... one time, one time, when he said that, until he flip-flopped and changed his position. And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that's the one time we agree with Hillary.

Giuliani was really firing up the crowd. He seemed to be having a great time, not at all depressed that his presidential aspirations didn't pan out.

Giuliani did a great job dissecting the sort of change that Obama and now Biden are promising.

GIULIANI: They would have you believe that this election is about change versus more of the same, but that's really a false choice, because there's good change and bad change.

(APPLAUSE)

Because change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.

(APPLAUSE)

John McCain -- John McCain will bring about the change that will create jobs and prosperity.

Giuliani cited Obama's lack of consistency and his poor judgment. Although it's very serious business, Giuliani injected some humor into his remarks.

GIULIANI: In the single biggest policy decision of this election, John McCain got it right, and Barack Obama got it wrong.

(APPLAUSE)

Senator McCain -- Senator -- Senator McCain was the candidate most associated with the surge, and it was unpopular. What do you think most other politicians would have done in a situation like this?

They would have acted in their self-interest, and they would have changed their position in order to win an election. How many times have we seen Barack Obama do this?

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Obama -- Obama promised to take public financing for his campaign, until he broke his promise.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Obama -- Obama was against wiretapping before he voted for it.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

When speaking to a pro-Israeli group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem, like I favor and like John McCain favored. Well, he favored an undivided Jerusalem -- don't get too excited -- for one day, until he changed his mind.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Well, I'll tell you, if I were Joe Biden, I'd want to get that V.P. thing in writing.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

Giuliani mentioned Obama's band of 300 foreign policy advisers, shining the spotlight on his inexperience. He went through Obama's floundering on the crisis in Georgia.

GIULIANI: Obama's first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he's displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Later -- later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.

(AUDIENCE BOOS)

Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.

(APPLAUSE)

By the way, this was about three days later. So -- so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain's three days earlier.

I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain.

That's really a terrific line. Obama should simply call McCain for the answer he's looking for.

Giuliani also talked up Sarah Palin, calling her a choice for the future and referring to Obama's choice of Biden as looking back.

He said, "[S]he's already had more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.

Then Giuliani got in some shots at the Obama-Biden ticket that I'm sure hit home with many Americans.

GIULIANI: I'm sorry -- I'm sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn't cosmopolitan enough. (LAUGHTER)

I'm sorry, Barack, that it's not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.

(APPLAUSE)

Well -- well, the first day -- as far as I'm concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than -- than Obama and Biden combined.

Giuliani was really funny while getting the point across -- Obama's condescension is not appreciated by ordinary Americans. We aren't a bitter, miserable lot, clinging to our religion and our guns to manage our misery.

The Left really does not understand our values.

I'm glad he addressed the outrageousness of the media and extremists on the Left suggesting that Palin is a bad mother.

GIULIANI: One final point. And how -- how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.

(APPLAUSE)

When do they ever ask a man that question? When?

(APPLAUSE)

I would like the Leftists to answer these questions raised by Giuliani.

Their hypocrisy on women's rights is stunning. They should be embarrassed for what they've done. They have disgraced themselves, not Sarah Palin or her family.

Giuliani ended his speech with eloquent remarks about the Republican Party.

GIULIANI: Well, we're at our best when we are expanding freedom. We're the party that has expanded freedom from the very beginning, from ending slavery to making certain that people have freedom here and abroad.

We're the party that believes in giving workers the right to work. We're the party that believes that parents -- parents should choose where their children go to school.

(APPLAUSE)

And we're the party -- and we're the party that unapologetically believes in America's success, a shining city on a hill, a beacon of freedom that inspires the world. That's what our party is dedicated to.

With that, Giuliani appealed to Americans to support John McCain and Sarah Palin. He challenged citizens to work to get them elected, to shake up Washington, and move this country forward.

It was a rousing speech.

Giuliani was an excellent choice to give the keynote address.

I think he energized what has been a rather lethargic Republican base.

That lethargy is gone.