Giuliani Offers Pledge Of Fiscal Restraint, A Vow to Beat Clinton

GOP Front-Runner Plays Down Social Issues

ROCK HILL, S.C., Oct. 12 -- Speaking to a Republican club here, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani offered his own version of what the party should stand for: strong national security, fiscal conservatism and beating Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). He never mentioned abortion, talking only about unspecified "differences" he might have with people in the room.

"When people around the country tell me I'm not conservative enough, will you please go back and read the New York Times editorials?" he told a crowd Thursday night in this town near the North Carolina border, drawing loud applause as he noted the criticism he took for trying to reduce the welfare rolls in New York.

While the presidential primary calendar is still in flux, South Carolina's GOP primary will likely be scheduled for Jan. 19, making it the first state to vote after the balloting in Iowa, New Hampshire and Michigan. And because it will be the first primary in the South, it will serve as an early test for Giuliani. Can an abortion rights supporter from the Northeast succeed in a party that is increasingly based in the South, where abortion continues to be a big issue with many Republican voters? Exit polls during the 2000 South Carolina primary showed that one-third of the state's Republicans considered themselves part of the "religious right" and that 58 percent said abortion should be illegal in most cases.

And when former Wisconsin governor Tommy G. Thompson, who briefly ran for the nomination, endorsed his former rival at an event in Charleston on Friday, he directly addressed the issue.

"People say, 'Well, he's not conservative enough,' " Thompson said. "I say . . . he transformed the city of New York. He reduced taxes. He cut spending."

Giuliani aides plan to compete aggressively in Iowa and New Hampshire but say their first must-win state will be Florida, whose primary is scheduled for Jan. 29.

A win in the Sunshine State, in turn, could create momentum heading into Feb. 5, when a mega-primary featuring delegate-rich states such as New York, New Jersey and California vote and the ex-mayor's nationwide fame gained in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, could be a huge asset.

Campaigning in the South, Giuliani routinely jokes about the scarcity of Republicans in New York City, depicting it as crime-ridden before he took office, part of his argument that, while some GOP voters may disagree with his ideas, it is hard to argue with his results.

At a crowded ice cream parlor in conservative Greenville, Giuliani told reporters he is polling stronger among conservatives than any of the other candidates and marveled at the "big surprise" his performance in the state is providing. Several surveys in the state have shown the former mayor first or just behind former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.).

In Rock Hill, Giuliani skipped discussion of moral issues, instead stressing that "from California to New York . . . the things that hold us together as a party are a strong national defense and a strong national economy."

Giuliani also gleefully took up one of his favorite tactics on the campaign trail: Hillary Clinton-bashing, which he has essentially made the third plank of his brand of conservatism in lieu of orthodoxy on social issues.

In the middle of his speech, Giuliani reached into his pocket, declaring to the crowd, "I have been keeping a list: This is my Hillary list."