Earlier this week, Rudy wowed me.

For certain Republicans, Rudy will always be untouchable — be it his stands on abortion, gay marriage, or gun control, or his messy marriages, or his in-your-face abrasive leadership style, etc. But… …when Rudy gets going on an issue you agree with him on… he’s really, really good. Maybe unequaled. And it’s possible to imagine him, in some future debate, mopping the floor with a liberal challenger the way Reagan obliterated Carter and Mondale.

Other notes from the event: At the pre-event photo opportunity, Tony Sirico, a.k.a. “Paulie Walnuts” from the Sopranos, made sure he is first in line. One guest goes up, “Tony, what am I gonna do now that you guys aren’t on anymore?”

Snacks in the photo op room: cheese puffs, pretzels, and potato chips. I didn’t try the Woodbridge Cabernet Sauvignon.

Overheard on line for photographs:

“I don’t get Fred Thompson.” “Aw, he’s just a big blowhard. He’s never done anything.”

“I had to watch Big Love just to see what all the buzz is about. I hope a lot of people watch it. It won’t help Romney, I’ll tell you that.”

“McCain’s in meltdown. He looks ancient.”

Entertainment was provided by Danny Rodriguez, the “singing policeman,” who garnered attention after 9/11 for striking performances at memorial services.

I counted 60 tables, with ten people each; empty seats were few and far between. Donors contributed between $1,000 and $2,300, so the haul was somewhere between $600,000 and $1.38 million.

Rudy was introduced by former FBI director Louis Freeh, who shared a story from his younger days, not long before he first worked with Giuliani. Freeh had just been transferred to the New York field office of the FBI, and after a week his boss asked him if he wanted to work undercover. Freeh enthusiastically welcomed the assignment, and asked what he needed to do. His boss told him to sign up at a local gym. That was the hangout of a mob captain who knew he was being watched by authorities, so the only way he would collect his protection money was when he was nude, in the sauna. Freeh’s first assignment was to strip down and watch this nude guy all day.

Eventually the gangster asked Freeh what he did, and he answered, “I’m a lawyer.” The mobster slapped him on the back and asked if he needed help getting a job with some judge. When the gangster was finally indicted, Freeh appeared in the courtroom. The mobster’s lawyer told Freeh that the gangster’s first reaction to the prosecutor was, “Aw, let the lawyer guy from the gym go, he’s got nothing to do with this!”

Rudy began his remarks and said, “Look at how we bring people together… We have former FBI director Louis Freeh… and Paulie Walnuts!”

Giuliani noted his successor, Mike Bloomberg, had left the GOP. “I realized today that my streak continues. I was the first Republican mayor in 25 years, and I was the first Republican mayor who stayed a Republican in fifty. Well, now the streak continues. With Mayor Bloomberg’s decision, it’s now back to Fiorello LaGuardia and me. Not bad company to be in.”