US election: Republican convention catches fire as McCain's ex-rivals delivers speeches critical of Obama

Former Republican presidential candidate and New York mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks at the Republican convention
Former Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani received standing ovations as he ridiculed Barack Obama's career. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters

The Republican convention, subdued during its first two days, caught fire last night when Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City, produced a barnstorming speech that subjected Barack Obama to a sustained battering at the party convention in St Paul.

Giuliani and two other prominent Republicans defeated by John McCain in the battle for the presidential nomination - Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney - brought the convention to life as they praised their former opponent and heaped derision on Obama.

Giuliani received the loudest applause of the convention so far - at least until Sarah Palin appeared later - and won ovation after ovation for his jibes at Obama.

His popularity at the convention and his easy, sarcastic delivery raised the question of how he had failed to secure the Republican presidential nomination.

As he last night ridiculed what he portrayed as Obama's limited career of service, he frequently had to stop because of cheers and jeers from the 20,000 delegates. Giuliani mentioned with scorn that Obama had only been a "community organiser" in Chicago. The former mayor had to take a lengthy pause to allow the jeers to die away, and then again when he ran through Obama's short Senate career.

Giuliani said: "He's never run a city, never run a state, never run a business. He's never had to lead people in crisis. This is not a personal attack ... it's a statement of fact - Barack Obama has never led anything. Nothing. Nada."

He noted that McCain had produced a strong, well thought-out response when Russia rolled over Georgia, whereas Obama had suggested that the UN security council - which brought boos from the delegates - could find a solution, seemingly unaware that Russia had a veto on the council.

"Here's some free advice Senator Obama, next time just call John McCain," Giuliani said.

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who was a surprise dark horse who stayed in the race with McCain to the end, also won repeated rounds of applause.

Huckabee paid tribute to Obama's achievement in becoming the first African American to win the Democratic presidential nomination, but that did not mean he was fit to become commander in chief.


As part of the hardening of support behind Palin, Huckabee inserted a late change to his speech saying that the media elite had united the party and country behind the vice-presidential candidate with reports that were "tackier than costume changes at a Madonna concert".

Romney, the multi-millionaire businessman who tried to spend his way to the nomination, called on voters to support McCain but also kept open the option of another run in 2012 with a populist speech positioning himself well to the right and repeatedly denouncing liberals.

In spite of loud applause when he began, the enthusiasm for him was less than that for either Huckabee or Giuliani.

But Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a Mormon, won cheers when he suggested Obama was too weak to stand up to what McCain had described as the evil of radical, violent Islam. McCain, he said, would defeat it.

"We will never allow America to retreat in the face of evil extremism," he said, implying that Obama would.

In keeping with this theme, he cast doubt on the patriotism of Obama's wife, Michelle, over a remark in January in which she said she had been proud of America for the first time when Iowa voted for him for the Democratic nomination. "Just like you, there has never been a day when I was not proud to be an American," Romney said.