Delegates already looking toward 2008

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NEW YORK -- Delegates and Republican officeholders here already are thinking about the 2008 campaign, with governors and the popular former mayor of New York leading the buzz.

Rudolph W. Giuliani, who received a rapturous welcome from delegates last night, became a national star among Republicans with his tough-on-crime record as mayor of the nation's largest city and his in-charge performance during the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"Giuliani has got to be the sentimental favorite here," said Louisiana delegate and state party treasurer Charlie Buckels.

Mr. Giuliani also has won admirers by crossing the country on behalf of President Bush, despite the two men's differences on social issues.

Besides Mr. Giuliani, the names coming most from delegates here include Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Colorado Gov. Bill Owens, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and New York Gov. George E. Pataki, although activists generally agreed that there was no obvious star on the bench, as Ronald Reagan was in the late 1970s.

Pennsylvania delegate Ken Winger summed up the view of many delegates: "The nominee would be a governor none of us has thought of yet."

The talk of the delegates here is the new, vastly slimmed down Mr. Huckabee, who lost so much weight that many here who hadn't seen the Arkansas governor in a while did double takes.

Mr. Huckabee leaves office in January 2007, about the right time to make a nomination run and still be thought of as a governor. He has scheduled interviews with reporters while attending the convention, but, standing with his delegation yesterday, averred that his only concern was getting the president re-elected.

But, "I don't want to rule anything out at this moment," he added.

"There are probably at least 15 people who are preparing to make a run, including Huckabee," said former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III, who also has been traveling across the country to address Republican audiences, giving friends the distinct impression that he is getting ready to run.