Much like his NRA speech, I think that in terms of the arguments he put forth, Giuliani did about much good as he could do before a skeptical crowd. There were plenty of applause lines on the easy areas of agreement – but after a while, you hit a ceiling. I can easily see attendees thinking, “I like his cleaning up Times Square, I like his fight with the Brooklyn Museum, I like his work with faith-based organizations on welfare-to-work… but at the end of the day, I want a pro-life President.”
A roundup of other reactions: Erick Erickson of RedState thinks the consensus view is now “he’d at least be passable, if not palatable, in the general.” (He also notes that NRO’s Mark Levin’s argument that a third party means another Clinton in the White House is getting a strong, positive reaction.) N.Z. Bear raves:
Yes indeed, Giuliani received a standing ovation (like every other candidate to speak thus far). No sign at all of any negative reaction, and his standing O seemed to be a genuinely enthusiastic one.
OK, my reaction. I think this was a truly great speech: nearly pitch-perfect for the audience and about as well received as could possibly be hoped for by the Giuliani camp. I’m about ready to declare it “brilliant”, in fact.
Phil Klein saw a quieter reaction: ”Giuliani was politely and respectfully received by the crowd, though I noticed that while much of the audience stood, some remained seated.” During his minute-by-minute update, Reason’s David Weigel writes “I think the crowd has warmed.”