The Case of the Mysterious Phone Call

There was a lighthearted moment during Rudy Giuliani's speech to the NRA, when he was interrupted by a cell phone call from his wife.

"Let's see now, this is my wife calling, I think," Giuliani said, pulling his ringing cell phone from his jacket pocket.

"Hello, dear," he said, speaking into the microphone on the podium. "I'm talking to the members of the NRA right now. Would you like to say hello?"

The audience of about 500 gun owners at a downtown Washington hotel laughed a little as she appeared to decline.

He concluded the call with, "I love you. I'll call you as soon as I'm finished. Have a safe trip. Talk to you later. I love you."

It was just darling, really touching. Almost as much as when the exact same thing happened during a speech in June.

The 22-second interruption wasn't the first time Judith Giuliani has dialed her husband in mid-speech. It happened in June as Giuliani addressed a Hispanic rally in Florida.

Giuliani's third wife has lowered her profile in recent months after unflattering media attention about her two previous marriages and an allegedly extravagant lifestyle. The candidate has stoutly defended his wife and said as President he'd be comfortable having her attend cabinet meetings - but later downplayed any policy role she would play.

And interestingly enough, the one thing the campaign responded to in every news story was whether or not the call was genuine.

Methinks they doth protest too much.

This is Bob Roberts kind of stuff.