The thrust of his speech was an appeal to the idea of the "big tent" party- a party which realizes that in order to win elections, it must accept that not everyone will agree on everything.  Hitting hard on the theme that even if not every Republican feels the same about every issue, he emphasized that it is more important to find the common ground on the basic principles of the party.  He quipped that he doesn't even agree with himself all of the time.  This focus of his speech seemed to be reaching out to the more conservative Republicans, arguably the more vocal faction of the Virginia Republican party, who might be inclined to dismiss him as a possible nominee due to his seemingly more liberal attitudes on some social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage.

Mr. Giuliani then moved on to discuss some more specific issues, beginning with the War on Terror and the war in Iraq.  Calling on his personal experiences with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he maintained that America must continue to fight against those who wish our destruction, and even made the claim that he can foresee the end of Islamic terrorism in the future.  In doing this, he invoked Ronald Reagan, saying that at the time, Reagan was the only one who could foresee the fall of the Soviet Union.  He also added that the Republican Party has historically been the party of optimism and solutions, and that it should continue this tradition, especially in the face of difficult times.  

During the rest of his speech, he discussed his thoughts on the American health care system, taxes, and the education system.  With these issues, Mr. Giuliani finds himself on the same side as the rest of his party.  He connected well with the audience at this $500 a plate dinner and even enticed many to the private reception, which required an even higher donation.  He is definitely making advances towards conservatives in order to secure their support in 2008.