Rudolph Giuliani may be coy about his presidential ambitions, but his recent itinerary isn't. 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 GOP candidates Judy Baar Topinka and Sen. Rick Santorum.
The diehard New York Yankees fan also was attending the All-Star Game in Pittsburgh Tuesday night.
When asked about 2008, Giuliani insists that he'll make a decision after the midterm elections in November.
He also was in Ohio on Monday with Republican Sen. Mike DeWine, who faces a tough re-election bid, and he planned to complete his tour Wednesday with a breakfast fundraiser for Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann and a reception in Baltimore for Maryland Gov. 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.
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's campaigned for conservatives such as Santorum and Ralph Reed, the lieutenant governor candidate in Georgia.
Republicans see his appeal and he remains a fundraising draw.
"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.
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.
abcnews.go.com |
