In New Hampshire, Giuliani Will Eye Key Backers

WASHINGTON — Mayor Giuliani will look to lock up key Republican supporters in New Hampshire this weekend as he makes his first trip to the early primary state since forming a presidential exploratory committee in November.

The former mayor is delivering the keynote address at the state GOP committee's annual meeting Saturday in Manchester, an event that officials expect to draw nearly 500 party leaders from around the state. Mr. Giuliani is also venturing up to New Hampshire's north country tomorrow night to speak to local business leaders at a sold-out Chamber of Commerce dinner in Littleton.

The trip is the first of several that Mr. Giuliani has scheduled in the coming weeks as he increases his time on the campaign trail to try to raise money and build a national organization. He is slated to be in South Carolina for a speech to the state party during the first week of February and will head to California the week after that.

For Mr. Giuliani, the next few weeks will not simply be about whether he can sell himself to Republican leaders and voters, but whether he himself will come out convinced that there is enough support for a candidate whose positions on social issues fall well to the left of the party base.

While Mr. Giuliani has led many early polls, he has been slower to line up fund-raisers and backers in the key primary states than his top rivals, Senator McCain of Arizona and Governor Romney of Massachusetts, leading some to question whether he is committed to becoming a full-fledged candidate.

A former Iowa congressman, James Nussle, signed on as an adviser to Mr. Giuliani last week, becoming the top Republican from that state to join his exploratory committee.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Mr. Nussle, who was the GOP gubernatorial nominee in Iowa last year, would not say whether Mr. Giuliani gave him any assurances that he would run, only that he and others were encouraging him to officially enter the race. "I am very confident that he is finding this exploratory process very positive," Mr. Nussle said. "He needs to make that decision and speak for himself."

Unlike the former mayor, Mr. Nussle is a social conservative who opposes abortion. But following the Republican defeat in November, he is urging Mr. Giuliani to present himself as an electable — if "unconventional" — candidate to the party. "The question I'm posing to Republicans is, ‘Do you want to govern? Do you want to win?'" Mr. Nussle said.

But that strategy may be risky in some states, such as Iowa, where caucus voters are known to be conservative. Asked if Mr. Giuliani could win there, Mr. Nussle was uncertain. "That's a great question," he said. He added, "In a state as conservative as Iowa, he would of course be the underdog."

Without singling out anyone by name, Mr. Nussle also offered a glimpse of how Mr. Giuliani may try to distance himself from Mr. Romney, who has drawn criticism for running to the right on social issues like abortion and gay rights after winning election to the Massachusetts statehouse as a moderate. "This is somebody who's genuine," Mr. Nussle said of Mr. Giuliani. "He doesn't have his finger up in the air, taking the temperature of where people stand on issues."

As a social moderate, Mr. Giuliani may find more comfortable ground in New Hampshire, a state where voters have tacked toward the political center in recent years and where the Republican primary is open to independents and Democrats.

The state GOP chairman, Wayne Semprini, said Mr. Giuliani has generated as much or more interest than any other Republican candidate. The former mayor wins points for his record in New York and his leadership following September 11, but Mr. Semprini said his lack of experience in Washington could also give him an advantage over Mr. McCain, a 20-year veteran of the Senate. "Rudy could be sold as a genuine outsider," he said. "It's hard to view McCain as an outsider."

Before addressing the party formally, Mr. Giuliani will be hosting a breakfast in Manchester to meet and greet committee members. After the speech, he will head to Rhode Island for a fund-raiser, an aide said yesterday.

Though Mr. Giuliani is headlining the GOP committee meeting Saturday, he won't be the only 2008 hopeful in Manchester. Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and the former Virginia governor, James Gilmore, are also expected in town this weekend, and Mr. McCain has dispatched Governor Huntsman of Utah to host a luncheon for his exploratory committee on Saturday, sources said. Meanwhile, Mr. Romney will be appearing in Iowa tomorrow.

Mr. Giuliani's trip also comes as Senator Clinton is making her first visit to Iowa since she announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination last weekend.