A frenetic crowd greeted former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), who delivered the most critical assessment of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) so far this evening.

On national television, Giuliani diverged from his prepared comments on numerous occasions during his introductory speech for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at the Republican National Convention. Giuliani was at turns cutting at Democrats and praiseworthy of GOP nominee John McCain.

“On the one hand, you’ve got a man who has dedicated his life to the service of his country,” Giuliani said. “He’s been tested time and again by crisis. He’s passed every test.”

Giuliani used the analogy of a job interview to push his argument, periodically speaking in a tone of sarcasm when he talked about Obama’s résumé.

“On the other hand, you have a résumé from a gifted man with an Ivy League education,” he said. “He worked as a community organizer, and immersed himself in Chicago machine politics. Then he ran for the state Legislature – where nearly 130 times he was unable to make a decision yes or no. It was too tough. He voted ‘present.’”

Giuliani said that he and Palin never had the opportunity to vote “present” in their political careers.

“He is the least-experienced candidate for United States president in at least a hundred years,” Giuliani ad-libbed.

Delivering a harsh critique of the Democratic Party and their nominee to the packed crowd, Giuliani cited a handful of examples that he said showed Obama had changed his mind on the issues, from public financing to wiretapping, to the Middle East.

“I hope for his sake, Joe Biden got that VP thing in writing,” Giuliani joked as the crowd laughed.

And in his introduction to Palin, Giuliani gave a glowing review of her accomplishments and personal qualities that she brings to the Republican ticket.

“She’s already one of the most successful governors in America – and the most popular,” he said. “And she already has more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.”

Giuliani extolled her experience as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, for six years prior to becoming governor of the largest land-area state in the nation.

“She’s been a mayor,” he added, in another ad-lib. “I love that. I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t ‘cosmopolitan’ enough. I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.” Giuliani was referring to a comment Obama made earlier this year to a private gathering of supporters, suggesting that some blue-collar workers “cling” to religion and guns.

To a roused and standing crowd, Giuliani accused Democrats of bringing up Palin’s family. Since McCain announced Palin as his running mate last Friday, the governor and her husband announced that their 17-year-old daughter was pregnant. (Obama made a statement soon after that said that her family should be a private matter.)

“How dare they question whether Sarah Palin has enough time with her children and be vice president?” Giuliani asked, again adding to his prepared remarks. “When do they ever ask a man that question? When?”