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Giuliani on the campaign trail?
12/07/2006 08:00 - (SA)
Arkansas - Rudolph Giuliani may be coy about his presidential ambitions. His recent itinerary is not.
The former New York City mayor campaigned for Arkansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday, then planned to travel to Illinois and Pennsylvania for appearances with Republican candidates Judy Baar Topinka and senator Rick Santorum.
The diehard New York Yankees fan also was attending the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
When asked about whether he will run for the presidency in 2008, Giuliani insists that he will make a decision after the midterm legislative elections in November.
Campaigning, fundraising
He also was in Ohio on Monday with Republican senator Mike DeWine, who faces a tough re-election bid, and he planned to complete his tour on Wednesday with a breakfast fundraiser for Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann and a reception in Baltimore for Maryland governor Robert Ehrlich.
Potential candidates typically spend the months leading up to a White House run campaigning and fundraising for the party's nominees, or in states critical to a presidential bid.
Support for abortion, gay rights
Giuliani is no exception, and even though his support for abortion and gay rights and gun control put him at odds with the Republican base, he is campaigning for conservatives such as Santorum and Ralph Reed, the lieutenant governor candidate in Georgia.
Republicans see his appeal and he remains a fundraising draw.
9/11
"I don't understand people dismissing him. It doesn't make sense," said Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster who has worked for Giuliani.
"A leader in crisis defines a presidency. What the public saw and experienced in him on 9/11 set him apart from everybody."
On Tuesday, Giuliani told an Arkansas audience that the country cannot absolutely prevent another terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
"I'm just thankful to God that we haven't been attacked in the past four or five years, which I thought would be the case," he said.
Not gauging support
Giuliani has said his campaign stops are not an attempt to gauge support for a potential presidential run.
"I try to focus as much as possible on 2006 because I think 2008 will be easier or harder depending on 2006," Giuliani said at a news conference following his speech.
- AP
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