The explanation for what makes Rudy so compelling among people who know him best\ufffdincluding New York reporters who've covered him for a generation, and political pros who've worked for him\ufffdis simpler: he is nuts, actually mad.

Now, this line should be delivered with the proper timing (smack your head in astonishment when you deliver it). And it implies some admiration and affection: he's an original. But it is, too, a considered political diagnosis: every student of Rudy Giuliani\ufffdindeed, every New Yorker\ufffdhas witnessed, and in many cases suffered, his periods of mania, political behavior that, in the end, can't have much of a rational explanation.