Down South, Giuliani Plays Up 9/11 Hero Image

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Firefighters and emergency responders lavished praise on Mayor Giuliani here yesterday, calling him the "face of the 9/11 response" and telling him that he saved New York. They even made him an honorary fire chief.

It was a scene that could have happened anywhere, and perhaps that was the idea.

At a campaign stop in a region known for its social conservatism, the talk did not focus on abortion, gun control, or gay marriage but on security and leadership — the issues that have thrust Mr. Giuliani to the front of the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls.

More than 200 men and women in uniform greeted the former mayor with cheers, but an event that drew heavily on Mr. Giuliani's hero image in the aftermath of September 11, 2001, did little to answer a lingering question: When, if ever, will his views on hot-button social issues catch up with him in the conservative South?

In remarks during a town hall-style meeting, Mr. Giuliani recounted stories about his interactions with first responders before and after September 11, telling the firefighters and other local emergency officials that they "really are a part of the military" in a nation fighting a global war on terrorism. "In defending your communities nowadays, you're defending America," he said as he paced around a platform stage at the North Spartanburg firehouse.

Addressing questions from the audience, Mr. Giuliani, as he has repeatedly in the early part of his presidential campaign, sought to use his record of leadership in New York to cast himself as the best choice to lead the nation on issues including energy and immigration. "We have to become energy independent, and we have to stop talking about it and do it," he said. "I hate to toot my own horn, but that's what I'm good at."

On immigration, Mr. Giuliani said America had to do more to enforce its borders, including building both a physical and "technological" fence, a position that drew applause from the crowd.

As a key early primary state, South Carolina lately has been a revolving door for top White House hopefuls of both major parties. Senator McCain of Arizona stopped in the state earlier this week and a former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, is expected here today. However, many audience members said they could not recall a presidential candidate ever tailoring an event specifically to emergency responders. "It goes a long way to show that he personally cares enough to come talk to us," a task force leader with a state urban search and rescue team, Travis Carricato, said. "They're keeping us in mind, which is good."

A coordinator with the local emergency response unit, Wendy Lively, said Mr. Giuliani was "playing to his strengths." As much as the crowd praised the former mayor for his leadership credentials, social issues remained a factor for some audience members unwilling to commit to Mr. Giuliani. "I think he deserves a definite look," the fire chief of Anderson County, S.C., Billy Gibson, said. But asked whether he would vote for a candidate that supported abortion rights, as Mr. Giuliani does, Mr. Gibson said: "Usually, I do not."

The first test for Mr. Giuliani here could come on March 1, when Spartanburg Republicans hold a presidential straw poll.

Outwardly, Mr. Giuliani has appeared unconcerned about how his views on social issues will play in the South, and that did not change yesterday. "For most people, not all, but for most people, it's never about one issue. It's about a whole group of things from which they come to the conclusion this person is the best person to lead my country, or to be the candidate of my party," he told reporters after the event. "That doesn't mean there aren't people who aren't opposed to you on a single issue, or are just opposed to you."

Campaign aides dismissed the suggestion that Mr. Giuliani was preaching to the converted, pointing to his speech earlier this month before the South Carolina Republican Party.

The Giuliani campaign distributed a leaflet yesterday that addressed, albeit indirectly, the former mayor's divergence from the Republican base on some issues. "Occasionally your principles will differ from the official party line," the literature quoted Mr. Giuliani as saying. "True leadership requires choosing, in every instance, the position that allows you to sleep at night."

Below the quote is the slogan: "Support Rudy in 2008 for a good night's sleep."

After attending a fund-raiser in nearby Greenville, S.C., Mr. Giuliani was scheduled to fly to Florida to meet residents today at a local diner in Delray Beach. His trip south comes as he is soaring in national polls, particularly compared with Mr. McCain, who has been labeled a front-runner for some time, even at this very early stage of the race for the 2008 nomination. A nationwide Quinnipiac University poll released yesterday showed Mr. Giuliani leading the Arizona senator 40% to 18% among Republicans.