by Evie Stone

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was originally billed as the keynote speaker of the Republican Convention. After the Gustav-induced scheduling shakeup, his "keynote" designation seemed to disappear, but he still got a prime speaking slot as the lead-in speaker to VP candidate Sarah Palin.

Giuliani gave the crowd plenty of what they wanted to hear, casting the choice in this election in terms of a job search, asking the audience, "who would you hire?" His description of John McCain opened with this:

On the one hand, you've got a man who's dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He's been tested time and again by crisis. He has passed every test.

Even his adversaries acknowledge, Democrats, Republicans, everyone acknowledges that John McCain is a true American hero. He loves America, as we all do, but he has sacrificed for it as few do.

And Giuliani characterized Obama like this:

On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer...Maybe this is the first problem on the resume. He worked as a community organizer. He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics.

Then he ran — 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.

He voted — he voted "present."

Giuliani said the words "community organizer" with unmasked contempt, and the crowd ate it up, booing loudly. Which is...weird, right? Since when is "community organizer" such a contemptible thing to be?

 

(And, for what it's worth, the "Chicago machine" thing isn't entirely accurate...read Ryan Lizza's excellent piece on Obama's complicated relationship with Chicago Democrats for a clearer explanation.)

Giuliani then added a knock on Obama's lack of executive experience:

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.

He is the least experienced candidate for president of the United States in at least the last 100 years. Not a personal attack, a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing! Nada! Nada! Nothing!

The second half of Giuliani's speech focused heavily on foreign policy and national security, the issues his campaign leaned on during his brief primary run. He critiqued Obama on his response to the recent conflict in Georgia (suggesting that in the future Obama take his foreign policy advice from John McCain), his stance on Israel, and his position on the war in Iraq. And he cast Obama and the Democrats as a whole, as weak on terrorism:

For four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the words "Islamic terrorism." I imagine they believe it is politically incorrect to say it. I think they believe it will insult someone. Please, tell me, who are they insulting, if they say "Islamic terrorism?" They are insulting terrorists.

Of great concern to me, during those same four days in Denver, they rarely mentioned the attacks of September 11, 2001. They are in a state of denial about the biggest threat that faces this country. And if you deny it and you don't deal with it, you can't face it.

(Despite Joe Biden's well-known primary debate one-liner, that was the only mention of September 11th — the day Giuliani made his name as a national figure with his stalwart leadership after the terrorist attacks there).

Giuliani closed with words of praise for VP candidate Sarah Palin — pointing out that he and she have something in common, and throwing in another Obama jab:

She's been a mayor. I love that. I'm sorry — I'm sorry that Barack Obama feels
that her hometown isn't cosmopolitan enough.

I'm sorry, Barack that it's not flashy enough.

Maybe they cling to religion there.

Giuliani was the last speaker before the much-anticipated Palin, and he primed the crowd with lots of spirited tough talk against Obama and in favor of the Republican ticket. By the time the VP candidate took the stage, the crowd was fully amped to greet her with a hero's welcome.