The first line of a NY Times Caucus Blog post on Giuliani speaking today: "Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani invoked Ronald Reagan at least a dozen times in his speech this afternoon before a fairly young audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington." Is Reagan Rudy's new 9/11? The Politico says there's a "Mood of Gloom at CPAC" and people are wistful for Reagan, so, clearly Giuliani knows his audience.
The Times' Kate Phillips says his speech was low key, he walked onstage to "New York, New York," and singles out this Reaganqesque quote, "You and I have a lot of common beliefs that are the same and some that are different. … We don’t all agree on everything. I don’t agree with myself on everything.’’ See? Rudy is totally divisive (even if it's only within himself).
And yesterday, when Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney called Rudy "pro-choice," "pro-gay marriage," and "anti-gun," Giuliani's aides said "Giuliani would abide by Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment and 'not speak ill of a fellow Republican," per the Daily News. We bet his aides are also ready to say "Reagan was married more than once, too!"
Photograph of Rudy Giuliani at the CPAC by Bernadette Tuazon/AP
