Giuliani campaigns in Newport Beach

NEWPORT BEACH — Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani led off with his strongest card, his terrorism-fighting credentials, before touching on healthcare, immigration and energy policy in a speech to a welcoming crowd Saturday.

“Sept. 11, 2001, taught me — and I believe it taught a lot of people, including President Bush — that we have to remain on offense,” Giuliani said. “That means that we have to use our military. We can’t show weakness.”

His visit is expected to be one in long string of appearances in California as he seeks the GOP presidential nomination.

Giuliani seemed to hit all the right notes Saturday, getting applause when he criticized Democrats’ stance on healthcare and advocated vouchers for schools. Giuliani spoke to about 465 people at a fundraiser hosted by Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) at the Island Hotel.

On immigration, he told reporters he doesn’t support amnesty for illegal immigrants, but he could support a guest worker program if there were adequate border security and tamper-proof ID cards. He said that even if illegal immigrants “can demonstrate that they are lawful, that they are paying taxes [and] that they’ll pay penalties,” they still shouldn’t be put ahead of people who go through legal channels.

“And citizenship here, if it’s earned, should be premised on being able to read and write English and understand American history, so we restore assimilation to the process of immigration,” he said.

Giuliani is racking up an impressive list of Orange County GOP supporters, but not everyone laughing and raising their glasses to him Saturday has pledged their full support.

“I want to see how this all shakes out,” said Dana Point Mayor Diane Harkey, who hasn’t endorsed a presidential candidate. “I like Rudy Giuliani. I think he can carry New York, which is huge for the Republican party.”

As she makes up her mind, she’ll likely see plenty more of him and the other two leading GOP contenders. With California’s presidential primary moving to Feb. 5, 2008, the state is expected to gain clout nationally. Also, the state GOP in 2008 will end its winner-take-all delegate system, so presidential candidates can win delegates by congressional district.

“It’s going to mean a lot more time spent here. That’s really tough during the winter,” Giuliani quipped.

As a national candidate, he may run into trouble over some of his positions, such as his support of gun control. “This anti-gun thing won’t work in the South,” Newport businessman Buck Johns said.

As a past supporter of abortion rights and gay marriage, Giuliani could hit another rough patch with social conservatives. That’s fine with voters like Dale Dykema, a donor to GOP groups the Lincoln Club and the New Majority, who considers himself a fiscal conservative but a moderate on social issues.

To Dykema, Giuliani has something that may override conservatives’ moral objections: He’s mainstream enough to win.

Although Newport Beach City Councilman Keith Curry is backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the nomination, he echoed Dykema’s point about the most important quality the GOP nominee must have.

“Nothing will unite the Republicans more than a candidate who can beat Hillary Clinton,” Curry said.