Over the last five days or so, each of the top four Republican presidential hopefuls has asserted, aggressively, that they are more reliably partisan than their rivals. It started with Mitt Romney claiming that he represents the “Republican wing of the Republican Party,” then shifted to John McCain saying he was the real Republican, and then shifted again to Fred Thompson saying he can out Republican them all.

Today, it was Rudy Giuliani’s turn.

Speaking before the Republican Jewish Coalition this morning, Rudy Giuliani, R-NY, wasted no time in fighting back criticism from his GOP rivals.

“Am I real Republican?” Giuliani asked the crowd while not naming his critics by name. “I gave my blood for the Republican Party in New York.”

Actually, as recently as 1996, Giuliani told a national television audience that he really wasn’t a Republican mayor. “Well, I’m a Republican mayor, but I’m really not,” Giuliani said. “I’m the mayor of New York City. I ran as a Republican, I ran as a Liberal — which really confuses all kinds of people — and I ran as an Independent.... So I’m not the most partisan of Republicans.”

Die-hard primary voters ought to love that.