Some people tell me that Rudy Giuliani's speech at CPAC today was "terrific." Others say "outstanding."

I think they are mistaking Rudy for the previous speaker.

Before he came on NRA President Wayne LaPierre warmed up the crowd to such a degree the room was scorching.

Five minutes into Rudy's speech the house was crammed to the walls, but all the energy had dissipated.

In other words, Rudy flopped. Big time.

What did he talk about? What could be the safest possible thing for a politician to talk about at CPAC?

Ronald Reagan.

So, who did Rudy spend his whole speech talking about? Ronald Reagan. Without reviewing my notes there were at least 5 direct quotes. "Peace through strength" was the Reagan line Rudy kept regurgitating.

He didn't talk about marriage, he didn't talk about abortion and he didn't talk about judges.

Namely, he stayed far, far away from everything conservatives question him about.

But, sure, people say it was a "great speech." (Except if you compared Wayne LaPierre's speech to it.)

It was, in truth, pretty blah. He discussed, at length, welfare reform and education. More completely safe topics. Sorry, being good on vouchers doesn't give you a whole lot of street cred with the conservative crowd. It's sort of a given that you need to be good on that.

And, yes, Rudy, you cleaned up New York (no small task,I know) but it's pretty clear you aren't up to fighting our nation's culture war.

I'll have more to come. Ivy and I are working on a long CPAC presidential wrap up and you can be sure to hear more from me on this.