Giuliani forms ’08 exploratory panel

Rudolph W. Giuliani has taken a giant first step toward a 2008 White House run, creating an exploratory committee and beating his pal John McCain to the punch in filing presidential paperwork.

The sharp-elbowed former mayor registered the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee Inc. on Friday with the New York secretary of state’s office. That was also the day McCain signaled publicly that he wanted to set up a similar organization for his campaign.

Giuliani’s committee is a test-the-waters exercise, but it’s the strongest sign yet that the socially liberal Republican will challenge the Arizona senator in the GOP primaries.

“Mayor Giuliani has not made a decision yet,” his campaign treasurer, John Gross, said in an e-mail to reporters Monday. “We have taken the necessary legal steps so an organization can be put in place and money can be raised to explore a possible presidential run in 2008.”

McCain’s camp declined to comment.

By filing with the state of New York, Giuliani avoids the strict requirements of a federally registered committee.

The former mayor’s move was no surprise considering he had stumped for GOP Senate and House candidates, including hopefuls in key primary states.

If Giuliani runs and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) also throws her hat into the ring, the stage will be set for a rematch between the two. He withdrew from their 2000 Senate showdown after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Giuliani and McCain are buddies who often hold court over plates of pasta in Manhattan. The two are locked atop Republican presidential polls; Clinton is the Democratic front-runner.

Giuliani faces serious hurdles as he courts the GOP heartland. He’s a pro-abortion-rights, pro-gay-rights, pro-gun-control urbanite on his party’s left fringe.

“Rudy Giuliani is going to need to do a lot of exploring to find enough conservative votes,” GOP political consultant Nelson Warfield joked.

After being painted as a liberal by George W. Bush in the 2000 primaries, McCain has sought to prove his right-wing bona fides, recently visiting Jerry Falwell’s university and emphatically describing himself as a conservative during an election night interview with CNN’s Larry King.