Giuliani moves nearer to White House run

[Ron Burgundy]

AP - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission this week that takes him one step closer to running for president.

A filing on behalf of the man once dubbed "America's mayor" was hand-delivered to the commission on Monday, an FEC spokeswoman confirmed. It says Giuliani, a Republican, has created a "testing-the-waters" presidential exploratory committee.

The formal creation of the committee means Giuliani can now raise money and travel the country gauging support and preparing for a White House bid without formally declaring himself a candidate.

Giuliani, who achieved near-mythic popularity for his handling of the Sept. 11 attacks, filed similar paperwork earlier this month in New York to create the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Exploratory Committee Inc.

In addition to Giuliani, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., has set up a presidential exploratory committee and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., also are weighing bids for the GOP nomination.

___

The filing is available at:

Federal Election Commission