Testing N.Y. values on Iowa GOP for '08 run

    With his presidential dreams shifting into gear, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is set to jet through Iowa tomorrow - his first trip to the presidential battleground since 2004.

    But the question already being whispered by many Iowa Republicans is: How does a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, twice-divorced moderate from the Northeast play in the mostly conservative cornfields of Iowa?

    "It's a little bit of a challenge," conceded David Roederer, who ran President Bush's successful Iowa caucus effort in 2004 and is expected to meet privately with Giuliani tomorrow. "It is no big secret that Rudy is perceived as a little more left-of-center than many Republicans."

    And therein lies the rub for Giuliani, not just in Iowa but in vast stretches of red state America, where conservative voters hold sway and generally determine who makes it to November.

    Giuliani will get a hero's welcome when he hits Iowa tomorrow, home to the first critical caucus on the presidential calendar.

    He can expect to be hailed as "America's Mayor" for his leadership on 9/11 at fund-raisers in Des Moines and Davenport, and also at a paid, motivational speech that Giuliani will give to some 18,000 ticketed fans.

    But party activists in Iowa and elsewhere know that, once voters push past the veneer of 9/11, they may see a much more complex person - a big-city mayor with moderate views on most social issues who, separated from his wife, once lived with two gay friends and their Shih Tzu, Bonnie.

    Giuliani's aides are, of course, acutely aware of the new scrutiny the former mayor's credentials may face, and they are working hard to put a conservative veneer on them.

    That explains why, on May 18, Giuliani will host a fund-raiser for former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed, who is running for lieutenant governor in Georgia.

    Not that Giuliani plans to change his views to fit the times - that would be very un-Rudy-like, his aides say. But conservative audiences may also start to hear more about those parts of Giuliani's past that do speak to them.

    "He's also governed the largest city in America for eight years and dramatically reduced crime, dramatically reduced welfare and cut taxes," said Anthony Carbonetti, Giuliani's chief political strategist. "Those are conservative credentials I will match against anyone's."