SACRAMENTO, Calif.—Mayor Giuliani is telling California voters wondering what kind of president he would make that they need to look no further than their popular Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I governed very much like your governor does,” Mr. Giuliani said as he described his tenure as mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001. “I got results and I want people to look at that and say that’s the way I would govern as president of the United States. I would get results,” he said.

In a deft bit of political footwork, Mr. Giuliani managed to declare himself simpatico with the governor without actually specifying any of the issues where the two men hold similar views. Some of those stances, such as support for abortion rights and gay rights, antagonize large swaths of the Republican base in the Golden State and across the country.

Despite his efforts to hitch himself to Mr. Schwarzenegger’s star, Mr. Giuliani said no endorsement was imminent. “I never expect an endorsement,” he told reporters after meeting with state legislators at a café near the state capitol.

Asked if he’d like the governor’s backing, the former mayor replied, “Well, of course.”

Mr. Giuliani attended a fundraising lunch yesterday in the same hotel that serves as Mr. Schwarzenegger’s residence in Sacramento, but aides said no meeting between the two men took place.

The California governor has not made an endorsement of any White House hopeful, but he was effusive last week about a potential independent candidate, Mayor Bloomberg.

Mr. Giuliani praised the Senate vote yesterday effectively abandoning immigration and border control legislation championed by President Bush. “It was necessary to defeat it,” the former mayor said. He said the compromises crafted to obtain support for the measure from across the political spectrum resulted in “a typical Washington mess.”

“In every respect, it would have made things worse,” Mr. Giuliani said. In something of a swipe at Mr. Bush, the former mayor said the president already has “a lot of the authority” he needs to secure the southern border. “He should go about doing that,” Mr. Giuliani said.

While some foreign policy experts and the Bush Administration have shied away from describing America as being at war with Islamic radicals, Mr. Giuliani displayed no such compunction yesterday.

“We should have a result in Iraq where we have a stable situation that acts as a help to us in the Islamic war against us,” he said. The former mayor did not answer directly when asked about eroding support among Senate Republicans for Mr. Bush’s Iraq strategy. “If you see it in the context of the overall terrorist war, the Islamic terrorist war against us, I think we have a better chance of making the right decision,” Mr. Giuliani said.

On his last swing through California, Mr. Giuliani warned that Senator Clinton’s proposal to repeal Mr. Bush’s tax cuts would cause venture capital investment in high technology to dry up. Yesterday, he dismissed critics who pointed out that venture capital flows were substantially higher during the late 1990s, when higher tax rates were in effect.

“Raising tax rates hurts investment all the time,” Mr. Giuliani insisted. He said higher rates would cause “more outsourcing of jobs” as American companies move operations to Ireland, Bermuda, and other countries.

In one of the most personal protests to date against Mr. Giuliani, a small band of Democrats were on hand with signs that drew attention not only to the former mayor’s three marriages, but also the fact that Mr. Giuliani’s first wife was his second cousin. “Rudy’s not a traditional, family-values Republican,” Edwin Kirby, 19, of Sacramento, said. He said he’ll vote for one of the Democrats and would like to see Vice President Gore jump into the presidential race.