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Giuliani tests presidency waters | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has taken a key step towards running in the 2008 US presidential election. | |
He is setting up an "exploratory committee", the first stage in any presidential bid, his representatives have said. | |
Mr Giuliani was widely praised for his response to the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. | |
He is known as a moderate Republican who supports gun control, same-sex civil unions and abortion rights. | |
"Mayor Giuliani has not made a decision yet," his spokeswoman said in a statement on Monday. | |
"With the filing of this document, we have taken the necessary legal steps, so an organisation can be put in place and money can be raised to explore a possible presidential run in 2008." | |
Under US law, setting up such a committee allows Mr Giuliani to travel the country to gauge support for a candidacy without formally declaring himself as a candidate. | |
'America's mayor' | |
Being mayor, even in a city as big and important as New York, is not commonly regarded as normal preparation for a presidential campaign, says the BBC's Jeremy Cooke in New York. | |
RUDOLPH GIULIANI 1944: Born in Brooklyn1983: US attorney in New York 1993: Elected New York mayor1997: Re-elected mayorMarried three times, three children href="/1/hi/world/americas/1817966.stm" class="">Profile: Rudolph Giuliani href="/1/hi/world/americas/5006788.stm" class="">2008 presidential hopefuls | |
But he adds that in the chaos which followed the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center, Mr Giuliani emerged as a defiant and unifying leader, earning him the honorary, wholly unofficial title of "America's mayor". | |
Since then, Mr Giuliani has remained in the public eye and has remained popular with the American people, particularly Republicans. | |
His relatively moderate views may make it difficult for him to persuade mainstream Republicans that he should be their presidential candidate. | |
HAVE YOUR SAY Giuliani would be a sentimental choice who is past his best Harry Send us your comments | |
His support for same-sex civil unions and embryonic stem cell research would put him to the left of most of his party members. | |
One potential rival for the Republican Party nomination is Arizona Senator John McCain, who said on Sunday that he planned to set up his own exploratory committee. |