Giuliani Gets Ready to Run in '08

He says he's still undecided, but former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is looking more and more like a candidate every day. This week, Giuliani formed an exploratory committee, the first step towards a Presidential run in 2008.

Giuliani, a Republican, was once the mayor of one of the most liberal cities in America, and is thought to have wide cross-over appeal because of his performance during the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001. Giuliani's steady presence on that day, when many bemoaned President Bush's absence from the national stage, received high marks from members of both parties and independents alike.

A popular figure amongst mainstream Republicans, and right-leaning independents, Giuliani will still have to contend with formidable right-wing opposition to his candidacy due to his support for gay rights and abortion rights. Moreover, Giuliani's divorce scandal tainted his mayoral legacy and caused some to question his family values. There can be little doubt that photos of the former mayor in drag will be bandied about during any Presidential run.

More importantly, Giuliani is not the only candidate to launch an exploratory committee. Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-California) and Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Iowa) have both started the process as well.

Under the guise of 'testing the waters', exploratory committees allow candidates to raise funds and drum up support without officially declaring their candidacy, thereby subjecting themselves to more stringent federal campaigning finance laws.

Some argue that such committees may subvert the intention of campaign finance laws if they are not subject to full disclosure. The controversy about government transparency reached full-boil in DC this election year when a Councilman disclosed his donor list in the Washington Post, challenging other candidates to do the same. Another oft-cited criticism of exploratory committees is that they allow for donations in excess of the federal maximums for the general campaign.

At the time of this writing, however, forming exploratory committees for the purpose of launching a campaign is standard practice, and Giuliani is an early adopter.

We can expect other candidates to shortly follow suit. From the Republican side of the aisle alone, Senators McCain (R-AZ), Frist (R-TN), and Brownback (R-KS) are all expected to form exploratory committees in the near future.

On the Democratic side, candidates are expected to include Senators Clinton (D-NY), Biden (D-DE) and Obama (D-IL). But it's too early yet to predict which candidates will ultimately face off in 2008.

Democrats were already surprised by the announcements of the popular Governor Mark Warner (D-VA) and netroots darling, Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI), that they would not run for the nomination.

It is still theoretically possible that Rudy Giuliani might do the same.