Watching on TV several things struck me. First, getting
interrupted by the call from his wife Judith I think was not
scripted and was certainly an example of "this is not the old
Rudy." The angry, impatient Rudy seems nowhere in evidence so far.
Second, he speaks and uses many more facts than his opponents.
Crime rates, numbers of FBI agents, number of gun cases under
Clinton -- it's a lot of data. This is not inherently good or bad
but it does indicate I think a lawyer's mind -- marshal the facts,
bolster your argument and make your case. Third, he very clearly
made the electability argument. In essence his pitch, or part of it
may be, that lovable Fred Thompson is a great gun rights supporter
but if he can't beat Hillary your Second Amendment rights and
conservative Supreme Court just vanished. It may not carry the day
for an endorsement from this group but I suspect you will hear more
of it now that Thompson is in the race.