Rudy Giuliani {president}??

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Hillary Clinton may just end up competing against each other once again - in the 2008 presidential election.

America's mayor is taking the first step toward an official run for America's President.
Rudy Giuliani, who is idolized by Republicans as the hero of 9/11 and the man who cleaned up New York, set up an exploratory committee - the traditional first step in the long slog towards the White House.

On Sunday in Pennsylvania, Giuliani said he was giving a run for the presidency "a lot of thought" and would make a decision "sometime next year."

Three of Giuliani's most trusted lieutenants filed papers with the state on Friday forming the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee, allowing him to raise money to "test the waters" without officially declaring himself a candidate.

"We have taken the necessary legal steps so an organization can be put in place and money can be raised to explore a possible presidential run in 2008," said John Gross, a director of the new committee with Peter Powers and Dennison Young - all alums of Giuliani's 1993 mayoral campaign.

"It is not a declaration, it is not an announcement - it is none of that," said a Giuliani aide. "It is the legal, back-room stuff that you have to do."

The move potentially sets up a dramatic New York rematch of his aborted 2000 Senate race against Sen. Hillary Clinton, who is expected to set up her own presidential committee soon. Her office had no comment yesterday.

Giuliani dropped out of the 2000 Senate race in a whirl of drama: He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and had decided to leave his second wife for his mistress.

On Sunday, GOP Sen. John McCain of Arizona said he may set up his own exploratory committee as soon as next week.

While pundits usually hail McCain as the front-runner in the GOP nomination, Republicans consistently tell pollsters their top pick is Giuliani.

Though mired in unpopularity in the summer of 2001, Giuliani's fortitude in the hours and days after the attack on the World Trade Center earned him worldwide admiration and made him a political rock star.

He has spent months traveling the country for GOP candidates, all the while burnishing his image among the party faithful as an anti-tax, crimefighting conservative who successfully ruled New York City - the dark blue heart of blue America.

Giuliani's leadership political action committee, Solutions America, raised $2.3 million and doled out $1.2 million to 55 GOP candidates. He has about $1 million left.

As a candidate, his biggest selling point may be the ability to project no-nonsense competence - a valuable asset when many voters view the current administration as hopelessly bumbling in a crisis.

But most Beltway political analysts think Giuliani's moderate positions on guns, abortion and gays will kill him among the right-wing conservatives who vote in primaries.

In particular, Giuliani's support for gay rights will likely play badly in a party that has been revving up its base by demonizing gays. There are enough snapshots of Hizzoner marching in gay pride parades and goofing around in drag to illustrate a hundred attack ads.

A preview of what Giuliani, a 62-year-old thrice-married Catholic, could face in the heartland came in a 2002 debate, when Democrat Alex Sanders famously attacked Senate candidate Lindsey Graham for being buddies with Giuliani.

"Giuliani is an ultraliberal," Sanders said. "He supports gay rights. He supports banning all handguns. He supports abortion. His wife kicked him out, and he moved in with two gay men and a Shih Tzu. Is that South Carolina values? I don't think so."

It was actually a Chihuahua named Bonnie, but the point was made.