Rudy Says Yes, Sort Of

Not that it's a surprise, but New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani has finally said the magic political words outright: he's running for the U.S. Senate.

After a stump speech Friday on the porch of the Westchester County, NY Republican headquarters, Giuliani was asked if he was an official candidate.

"I don't know what an official candidate is," he said. "I am very interested in running. I am running. Look what I'm doing, I'm not walking...Give me a break, I'm running."

Though Giuliani has long been campaigning and was the obvious Republican candidate to oppose Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton,until Friday he had not said, "I'm running."

As recently as last Sunday, Giuliani avoided answering whether he planned to run for Senate - even as he made the rounds on political talk shows hours before Mrs. Clinton made her Senate run official.

The closest answer he gave to a definite yes on that day was, "Looks that way." But he also said then, "There's always doubt."

And Giuliani campaign manager Bruce Teitelbaum said Friday that the mayor's statement "should not be construed as his official announcement."

"This may be the first time he's said those words but he's said that kind of thing before," Teitelbaum said. "No decision has been made on an official announcement and there may not be one."

Still, Westchester County Republicans were impressed with what Giuliani said on Friday.

"Maybe we'll put up a plaque," said county GOP chairman Jim Cavanaugh. He said the mayor told lunch companions after his statement that he didn't want to make "a Hollywood-style announcement."

"By kind of slipping it in like that, that seems how he wants to do it," Cavanaugh said.

Clinton campaign spokeswoman Karen Dunn said, "We welcome the mayor to the race. Maybe now he will start talking about what he would do as a United States senator."

In his speech, Giuliani poked fun at Mrs. Clinton's househunting in Westchester County.

When he walked to the microphones to chants of "Rudy, Rudy!",the mayor said, "I don't know what all the fuss is about. I'm just hanging around here looking for a house."

Giuliani also suggested that if the First Lady loses the race, she might leave him the new home in Chappaqua that served to establish her residency.

"Around January 1, I'm going to need a place to live and I understand there may be a house on the market around here," he said.

Asked if he accepted Mrs. Clinton as a New York resident, the mayor hesitated and said, "OK. You figure it out. You figure out if she's really a resident."

Giuliani repeatedly emphasized his New York roots, telling the crowd, "I come from New York, like you do."

"We're New Yorkers, after all," he said. "We want to fight for New York."