Rudy Giuliani eyes NH path

Politico reports

The 2012 Republican primary is already well underway. His old campaign staff is mostly scattered to the winds. He still owes nearly $3 million from his 2008 presidential bid.

Despite those obstacles, Rudy Giuliani says he’s seriously considering another White House run — a bid that would look dramatically different than his campaign four years ago.

“My thinking is that I still have time to decide. So I’m going to take it … the race is developing very slowly compared to, maybe not necessarily historical races, but compared to 2007, which is what I’m used to,” he told POLITICO. “My focus when I sit down to decide will be, do I think any of the people running, or a few of them, have a good chance of beating President Obama or not?”

This time around, Giuliani’s fiscal record as New York City mayor would be the centerpiece. New Hampshire would be the key state in his strategy — as opposed to Florida, where he placed his big bet last time. The focus would be on winning over fiscally-minded Republicans and a chunk of the independents who can vote in the state’s open Republican primary, an approach resembling John McCain’s in 2008. The expectation is that without a contested Democratic primary, there will be more independent voters who cast votes in the GOP contest.

“I think John had exactly the right strategy,” he said, referring to his win-New Hampshire approach.

The newest piece of evidence that Giuliani is looking seriously at New Hampshire: for the first time in two years, he now has a designated spokeswoman — and she’s based in the first-in-the-nation state.

All indications are that he’s sticking to his professed timetable of announcing his intentions by Labor Day.

“He’s still seriously thinking about it — he would like to see somebody get into the race that can beat Barack Obama, and if somebody [he thinks can do that] gets into the race, he will support that candidate,” said Giuliani’s longtime political adviser Jake Menges. “And if that candidate does not emerge, he will seriously think about getting in.”