Giuliani and Romney to crash Democrats' Denver party

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Democrats gather in Denver next week to nominate Barack Obama for president, they'll be joined by such uninvited guests as Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.

The two former presidential candidates will be among two dozen or so Republicans in the city hoping to get their party's message out during a week dominated by Democratic festivities.

Their slogan? "Not Ready '08: A Mile High and an Inch Deep," a play on the nickname for the high-altitude city in the western United States.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Obama's rival for the November 4 election, is expected to keep a relatively low profile that week, though he is scheduled to appear as a guest on "The Tonight Show" talk show on Monday.

His surrogates will set up shop within walking distance of the Democrats' convention hall, hoping to catch the attention of the 15,000 reporters gathered there.

"With all the hype of the actual convention and all the Obama fans gathered in one spot, we're going to get beyond the glitz and the celebrity and talk about the facts of his record," said Matt McDonald, a McCain staffer overseeing the effort.

ROMNEY, GIULIANI

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and Giuliani, a former New York mayor, both lost the Republican nominating battle to McCain but have since emerged as prominent supporters.

They will be joined by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who will respond to New York Sen. Hillary Clinton's Tuesday night speech.

Along with daily news conferences and one-on-one interviews, the Republicans will roll out new TV advertisements and a website www.notready08.com to keep up attacks on Obama.

"It's his week and we're just going to try to get into the stories as much as we can," McDonald said.

Republicans will have their own turn in the spotlight the following week, when they hold their nominating convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and Democrats plan to be there as well.

"We'll have a full-scale operation in Minneapolis to make sure voters in the Twin Cities and across the country know that John McCain is promising more of the same failed out-of-touch agenda," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "Let's just say you won't have to look too hard to find us in Minneapolis."

McCain has planned a large rally in Dayton, Ohio, for August 29, the day after the Democratic convention ends, during which he could unveil his vice-presidential pick to try to steal the spotlight from Obama.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan, editing by Howard Goller and David Storey)