A couple thoughts in reaction to the New York Times’s report on Rudy’s new campaign strategy on abortion:

After months of conflicting signals on abortion, Rudolph W. Giuliani is planning to offer a forthright affirmation of his support for abortion rights in public forums, television appearances and interviews in the coming days, despite the potential for bad consequences among some conservative voters already wary of his views, aides said yesterday. At the same time, Mr. Giuliani’s campaign — seeking to accomplish the unusual task of persuading Republicans to nominate an abortion rights supporter — is eyeing a path to the nomination that would try to de-emphasize the early states in which abortion opponents wield a great deal of influence. Instead they would focus on the so-called mega-primary of Feb. 5, in which voters in states like California, New York and New Jersey are likely to be more receptive to Mr. Giuliani’s social views than voters in Iowa and South Carolina.

Thought one: Are you kidding me?

Thought two: No, really. He’s joking, right?

Thought three: Why did Team Rudy give this scoop to the New York Times? Wouldn’t he rather communicate his decision to a news source that is read by actual Republican primary voters?

Thought four: He’s not really going to do this, is he?

UPDATE: Boy, when it rains, it pours: ABC News reports Giuliani met with the head of the DEA when the DEA’s drug diversion office began a criminal investigation into Purdue Frederick, the pharmaceutical company that pled guilty today to charges it misled doctors and patients about the addiction risks of the powerful narcotic painkiller OxyContin. The company is a client of Giuliani partners.