Rudy Giuliani has had a rough couple of months in the conservative media, but speaking to a Heritage Foundation audience in Washington on Monday night, he demonstrated the qualities that have made him the early Republican frontrunner. using on his strong points -- national security and economic policy -- Giuliani peppered his speech with humor and backed up his policy prescriptions for America with examples and anecdotes from his experiences as mayor of Gotham.

(...) Moving on to tax policy, he called for the abolition of the death tax and mocked the current law that would have the tax expire for just one year in 2010. "That's called a tax incentive to die," he quipped, drawing laughter from the audience. "Do not go on a respirator in 2010."The primary argument for Giuliani's candidacy, of course, rests on the perception that he would make a strong wartime leader. "I don't care what the polls say, I believe deep down Americans know what's at stake," Giuliani said, with his fist to his heart. "We have to deal with the reality of the threat we face. We cannot allow our country to go into denial about the Islamic terrorist threat, the extreme radical threat against America".

(...) Giuliani entered and exited the stage to standing ovations, and his speech was interrupted by applause throughout as he stuck to the common ground he has with conservatives and steered clear of social issues. (...) Clearly, Giuliani will continue to be dogged by questions about abortion and other social issues, and ultimately his deviations on those issues may sink his candidacy. But in past election cycles, we wouldn't even be talking about the prospect of a pro-choice candidate winning the Republican nomination. Rudy's strong performance on Monday night is indicative of why we are.

Rudy conquista la Heritage Foundation. Ma non era il candidato disprezzato dai conservatori? Philip Klein su The American Spectator.