Giuliani dismisses potential obstacles to presidential bid listed in leaked strategy memo

(AP) Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on Thursday dismissed his liberal social views, his divorces and his former aide's imbroglio as irrelevant to a presidential bid.

Asked about a leaked political strategy memo that cited such issues as potentially insurmountable obstacles to a campaign for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Giuliani said: "That is not going to be the issue."

"I sure have strengths and weaknesses," Giuliani said on ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think that sort of puts me in the same category as just about everybody else that's running. Are my strengths greater or my weaknesses worse? I don't know. You have to sort of examine that. That won't be the issue."

Giuliani, who formed a presidential exploratory committee last year, said he is still weighing whether to run for president.

"You have to feel inside yourself there is something special I can do _ some kind of special experience I have had or background," said Giuliani, who became known as "America's mayor" for his response to the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Giuliani made headlines last week when a copy of his nascent campaign's strategy made its way to the New York Daily News.

Aides claimed the 140-page document was pilfered from a piece of luggage when a staffer changed planes. The document acknowledged the obvious: a moderate Republican who has supported abortion rights, gay rights, and gun control may be a tough sell to GOP primary voters.

It also cited his stormy divorce from Donna Hanover, one of his former wives, and his ties to scandal-plagued former New York City police chief Bernard Kerik as potential obstacles.

___

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack said Thursday he is stepping down as chairman of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, with former Rep. Harold Ford Jr., in line to replace him.

In a statement, Vilsack said he was following a precedent set by former President Clinton by leaving his post to focus on the White House bid. Vilsack has served 18 months as chairman of the DLC.

Ford, 36, was a five-term congressman from Memphis who sought to replace Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and become the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.

Although Ford ran a campaign that earned high marks from Republicans and Democrats, he lost a close race for the open Senate seat to Republican Bob Corker.

"Harold Ford has earned his reputation as a persuasive advocate for the Democratic Party and will do a great job as chairman of the DLC," Vilsack said in the statement.

___

Associated Press Writer Henry C. Jackson in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report.