Giuliani out to win a state 'made for him'

DERRY, N.H. -- Rudy Giuliani was telling a roomful of voters about a dream he had three times, when he interrupted himself. "Any psychiatrists here? Want me to lay down and tell you this? You do dream analysis, right?"

Minutes later the former New York mayor had moved on to the "fear of abandonment" his city suffered after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, his people's need to be "embraced," and America's need to buck up because "when you concentrate on your problems so much, as a person or as a society, you sometimes lose perspective."

Suffice it to say Republicans have never had a presidential candidate like this — half Woody Allen, half Rambo and 100% cerebral.

On a trip here last week, Giuliani, 63, was thanked time and again for his leadership after the 9/11 attacks and almost as often for making New York a livable city. Those are the pillars of his candidacy, and he promotes them to the hilt.

"I was mayor of a city that's larger than most states," he told voters at a town meeting here. "Nobody held office as long as I did or in as difficult situations as I was."

"More than any other candidate, I understand the threat that we face," he said later at a gentrified "country store" in Nashua. "I'm the one with by far the strongest record of success. I've had the most executive experience of all."

How's it playing in the state that holds the first primary? It may be too soon to tell. Giuliani began staffing up and running radio ads about three weeks ago. Mitt Romney, former governor of neighboring Massachusetts, has been active for months and leads in most polls.

Arizona Sen. John McCain won the 2000 primary but now is third or fourth. "I'm a Rudy fan," said Don Reese, 68, of Hampstead, a retired business owner. "We're really McCain fans, but McCain seems to be fading and Rudy seems to be coming."

In 2000, 62% of the independents or "undeclareds" who voted in the New Hampshire primary did so in the GOP primary. This time, said Andrew Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center, as many as three-quarters may vote Democratic.