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Giuliani to examine chances for '08

Former mayor tells Iowa crowd he has itch to run for office again

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

May 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - Rudolph Giuliani emerged from political hibernation yesterday, telling an Iowa audience he's got the itch for public office - and musing aloud about his White House chances.

The former New York City mayor, a Republican whose pro-choice and gay-rights beliefs put him at odds with the GOP's conservative base, urged his party to avoid divisive issues like abortion. He also threw his support behind a guest worker program backed by his friend Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

McCain, who runs a close second to Giuliani in most presidential polls, visited the politically crucial caucus state last month.

"I am interested in public service again," Giuliani said after a Des Moines fundraiser for Jeff Lamberti, a Republican candidate for Congress.

"My effort this year will be to help Republicans get elected," he added. "And, quite honestly, a part of it also is saying to myself 'Does it look like I have a chance in 2008?' ... I've got a lot of places to go and a lot of people to talk to and a long process to go through to see if it makes sense for me to run for president in 2008."

Giuliani was also scheduled to attend a fundraiser last night in Davenport and is expected to raise about $25,000 for Rep. Jim Nussle, who is running for governor.

Tomorrow, he flies to Washington to appear at a fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is low on cash. Then, on May 18, he heads to Atlanta to raise money for embattled former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, who is running for Georgia lieutenant governor.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Giuliani, in another nod to the party's moderate wing, signaled support for McCain's immigration bill. The legislation, which has stalled in the Senate, would provide a path to citizenship for law-abiding undocumented immigrants who have been in the country for at least two years.

Like his one-time Senate foe Hillary Rodham Clinton, Giuliani scorned a House measure that would make it a violation of federal criminal code for undocumented immigrants to remain in the United States. Currently, it's a violation of immigration law.

"If you were to pass a law making everybody who is here ... illegally a criminal with a penalty of five years in jail, we would become a much more insecure country," he said. "You drive them farther underground, you push them more toward criminal activity."

This story was supplemented with a wire service report.