Rudy Giuliani began perhaps his most daunting Michigan task Friday trying to convince voters he was conservative enough to win their support for his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
In Michigan to nab an endorsement and woo mainstream Republicans, Giuliani got with calls from within his own party that he wasn't conservative enough.
But Giuliani a supporter of gay rights who is pro-choice and thrice married dismissed such concerns.
"All I'd ask them to do is to give me a fair hearing and look at my whole record," he said.
The ex-New York City mayor leads U.S. Sen. John McCain and ex-Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in several national polls but is behind in Michigan. He said he will open an office in the state and fight to win over voters here.
His appeal has grown since he led New York in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that destroyed lower Manhattan's World Trade Center.
While others are talking about pulling troops out of Iraq, Giuliani said he would make sure the troops get the support to finish the task. And he didn't shrink from the growing nuclear threat in Iran: He said America must be willing to use force to make sure that country doesn't develop nuclear weapons.
Giuliani was making his first trip to Michigan since establishing an exploratory committee. During an animated address before about 1,000 people who attended the party's $50-a-plate Lincoln Day Dinner, he said he has the focus to accomplish the difficult tasks facing the next president.
Pat Montella, a native of Brooklyn who opened a Shelby Township grocery about five years ago, said Guiliani could do for the country what he did for New York.
"I think the country needs Rudy," he said. "He was a no-nonsense mayor. He cleaned up the city."
