Excerpts of Rudy Giuliani`s speech at the RNC:
The American people realize this election represents a turning point. It’s the decision to follow one path or the other. We, the people, the citizens of the United States, get to decide our next president, not the left-wing media, not Hollywood celebrities, not anyone else but the people of America.
That’s right, USA.
Thank you. Thank you.
To those Americans who still feel torn in this election, I’d like to suggest one way to think about this to help make a choice in 2008.
Think about it this way. You’re hiring someone to do a job, an important job, a job that relates to the safety of yourself and your family. Imagine that you have two job applications in your hand with the name and the party affiliations blocked out.
They’re both good and patriotic men with very different life experiences that have led them to this moment of shared history. You’ve got to make this decision, and you’ve got to make it right. And you have to desire — you’ve got to decide, who am I going to hire?
On the one hand, you’ve got a man who’s dedicated his life to the service of the United States. He’s been tested time and again by crisis. He has passed every test.
Even his adversaries acknowledge — Democrats, Republicans, everyone acknowledges that John McCain is a true American hero.
He — he loves America, as we all do, but he has sacrificed for it as few do.
As a young man, he joined the military. And being a “Top Gun” kind of guy, he became a fighter pilot. He was on a mission over Hanoi when his plane was shot down.
He was tortured in a POW camp, but he refused his captors’ offer of early release, because this is a man who believes in serving a cause greater than self-interest, and that cause is the United States of America. America comes first.
He has proved his commitment with his blood. He came home a national hero. He had earned a life of peace and quiet, but he was called to public service again, running for Congress, and then the United States Senate, as a proud foot soldier in the Reagan revolution.
His principled independence never wavered. He stood up to special interests. He fought for fiscal discipline and ethics reform and a strong national defense.
That’s the one choice. That’s the one man.
On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked — I said — I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.
He worked as a community organizer. He immersed himself in Chicago machine politics.
Then he ran for — then he ran for the state legislature and he got elected. And nearly 130 times, he couldn’t make a decision. He couldn’t figure out whether to vote “yes” or “no.” It was too tough.
He voted — he voted “present.”
I didn’t know about this vote “present” when I was mayor of New York City. Sarah Palin didn’t have this vote “present” when she was mayor or governor. You don’t get “present.” It doesn’t work in an executive job. For president of the United States, it’s not good enough to be present.
You have to make a decision.
A few years later — a few years later, he ran for the U.S. Senate. He spent most of his time as a celebrity senator: no leadership, no legislation to really speak of.
His rise is remarkable in its own right. It’s the kind of thing that can happen only in America.
But he’s never — he’s never run a city. He’s never run a state. He’s never run a business. He’s never run a military unit. He’s never had to lead people in crisis.
He is the least experienced candidate for president of the United States in at least the last 100 years.
Not a personal attack, a statement of fact. Barack Obama has never led anything, nothing, nada.
Nada, nothing.
The choice — the choice in this election comes down to substance over style. John McCain has been tested; Barack Obama has not.
Tough times require strong leadership, and this is no time for on-the-job training.
We agree. We agree with Joe Biden… one time, one time, when he said that, until he flip-flopped and changed his position. And, yes, being president means being able to answer that call at 3:00 in the morning. And that’s the one time we agree with Hillary.
But I bet you never thought Hillary would get applause at this convention. She can be right. Well, no one can look at John McCain and say that he’s not ready to be commander-in-chief. He is. He’s ready. (…)Our hero, our candidate, John McCain said, “I’d rather lose an election than a war.” Why? Because that’s John McCain.
When Russia rolled over Georgia, John McCain immediately established a very strong, informed position that let the world know how he’ll respond as president at exactly the right time. Remember his words? Remember what John McCain said? “We are all Georgians.”
Obama’s — talk about judgment. Let’s look at what Obama did. Obama’s first instinct was to create a moral equivalency, suggesting that both sides were equally responsible, the same moral equivalency that he’s displayed in discussing the Palestinian Authority and the state of Israel.
Later — later, after discussing this with his 300 foreign policy advisers, he changed his position, and he suggested the United Nations Security Council could find a solution.
Apparently, none of his 300 foreign policy security advisers told him that Russia has a veto power in the United Nations Security Council.
By the way, this was about three days later. So — so he changed his position again, and he put out a statement exactly like the statement of John McCain’s three days earlier.
I have some advice for Senator Obama: Next time, call John McCain. (…)In choosing Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain has chosen for the future.
The other guy looked back. John looked forward.
Gov. Palin represents a new generation. She’s already one of the most successful governors in America and the most popular.
And she’s already had more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.
She’s been a mayor. I love that.
I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough.
I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.
Well — well, the first day — as far as I’m concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than — than Obama and Biden combined.
Then she became governor. She’s reduced taxes. She’s reduced government spending. She’s encouraged more energy exploration.
She’s been one of the most active governors — she’s been one of the most active governors in the country, and Alaska can be proud of having one of the best governors in the country.
She’s got an 80 percent approval rating. You never get that in New York City, wow.
As U.S. attorney, a former U.S. attorney, I’m very impressed the way she took on corruption in Alaska, including corruption in the Republican Party. This is a woman who has no fear. This is a woman who stands up for what’s right.
She — she — she is shaking up Alaska in a way that hasn’t happened in maybe ever. And with John McCain, with his independent spirit, with his being a maverick, with him and Sarah Palin, can you imagine how they’re going to shake up Washington?
Whew, look out. Look out.
One final point. And how — how dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time to spend with her children and be vice president. How dare they do that.
When do they ever ask a man that question? When? (…)So, my fellow Americans, we get a chance to elect one of our great heroes and a great American. He will be an exceptional president. He will have with him an exceptional woman who has already proven that she can reform and that she can govern.
And now the job is up to us. Let’s get John McCain and Sarah Palin elected, and let’s shake up Washington and move this country forward.
God bless America. Thank you.
Watch the speech here: Giuliani’s Keynote Address to the RNC, September 03, 2008
Read the entire speech here