Rudy Giuliani, Tea Party Patriot?

At least that's what he sounds like as he's apparently gearing up for another campaign:

Rudy Giuliani returned to the Granite State Friday night, acknowledging his poor performance here in the 2008 GOP primary in a speech that lambasted President Obama, jabbed Mitt Romney’s health plan and praised the tea party.

The former New York City mayor gave little hint of his own plans, but seemed relaxed during a showy speech at the Manchester GOP Lincoln Reagan Dinner that was laced with jokes and hand gestures as he skewered Obama as a “failure” and ended with the declaration, “Hillary Clinton would have been better.”

It was his first trip to New Hampshire of the 2012 cycle, and the first since he made clear he’s contemplating another run for president — one that would offer redemption for his dismal fourth-place finish in the first-in-the-nation primary last time.

Giuliani lauded the tea party movement extensively, saying it is about preserving the “freedoms” of the country.

“My view of the tea party is the tea party is one of the best things that’s happened to American democracy in a very, very long time,” he said. “People in the tea party, like me, believe that our freedom is being taken away.”

He mocked Obama’s background as a community organizer, saying it is the wrong kind of experience for a president, adding, “It’s worse than we thought, isn’t it? He really seems like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. “

Last time he ran he spent something like $17 million to win one delegate. He's got some work to do.

I have to say, though, as I look at the current GOP field we could do a lot worse than Rudy.  He's far from perfect on the social issues, but I don't think those are going to have as much impact in 2012 as they may have in 2008.