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Giuliani was politely and respectfully received by the crowd, though I noticed that while much of the audience stood, some remained seated.

I've seen Giuliani speak on many occasions, and I thought he was definitely less comfortable than he usually is, at one point he had to avert an embarassing moment when he discussed adoption and started to say he was comitted "to decrease adoptions..." then he had to correct himself by saying "decrease abortion, and increase adoption.

His strategy was two fold. First, to tell the audience that they might not agree with him on everything, but they'll agree on most things, and in as a way of contrasting with Romney, he said that at least he's honest with them and won't bend with the wind.

"I'm not going to pretend to you that I can be all things to all people," he said.

He also appealed to the idea that "Christianity is about inclusiveness."

And said, "You have nothing to fear from me."

The second part was focused on his accomplishments in New York City, fighting crime, promoting adoption, slashing the welfare rolls, getting porno shops out of Times Square, and fighting the Brooklyn Art Museum.

Then he talked about the pro-life policies that he would support as president: use the veto on an attempt to water down the Hyde Amendment, supporting parental notification, and opposing partial birth abortion.

He then moved on to talking about the war on terrorism, winning in Iraq, his support for Israel and standing up to Iran. The problem was his delivery was pretty flat for him. If he would have struck the same tone as he did at the Republican Jewish Coalition earlier this week, he would have had this crowd on its feet.

I'm going to try and talk to some folks and get a better sense of how this all went over.

topics:
Abortion, Iraq, Iran, Israel