Erick Erickson gives him good reviews, as does the crowd:
In his speech, he's not afraid to call radical Islam "evil" and makes a very impassioned case that it is. Over all though, he seems subdued. Subdued, I guess, isn't the right word, but comes the closest. He is not raising his voice, yelling, pounding fists, or anything else. It's as if John McCain has decided that the force of his convictions will come through. And you know what? It works. Here towards the end he's picking up voice and bringing the audience to applause when he gets on judges. He points out he supported Alito and Roberts. He also says "don't federalize issues not in the constitution." Now, here you go -- I've typing this live. After a good bit of his subdued speech, he's not got the audience's attention and now he's fired up about the issues -- abortion, federal judicial grabs of power, etc. But, he hasn't gotten to immigration. Great line he throws in: "I am pro-life because I know what it's like to live without human rights."
That last line is a winner.
N.Z. Bear is less enthused:
He highlighted his opposition to the administration's interrogation policies: “The easy way is not the American way we must remain true to our ideals not in spite of the threats we face but because of them.” And made a point of reminding the crowd of his involvement in the "Gang of 14", declaring "I am proud to have played a role -- -a major role --- in the confirmation of Alito, Roberts, and others." and concluding “I would appoint strict constructionist judges that won’t legislate from the bench.” (waitaminute --- I thought Giuliani was tomorrow...?) It was a good speech, but not great delivery. To me it was fairly obvious that it wasn't one he had written himself or even had time to review closely prior to delivery --- he recited it staring down at the text for the majority of his time, and his timing was off --- he didn't seem to have a grip on his own applause lines.
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