Giuliani team plays down importance of early win

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign, trailing in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire, said on Monday the path to the party's nomination may not necessarily go through those states.

Although recognized as the Republican front-runner because he leads national polls, former New York Mayor Giuliani is behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Iowa on January 3 holds the first of the state-by-state battles to choose the Democratic and Republican candidates who will vie for the U.S. presidential election on November 4, 2008. A win in Iowa can generate momentum for the next state contest in New Hampshire, expected to be on January 8, and beyond.

The Giuliani campaign is faced with explaining how he could lose the first two states, maybe even the first big three or four, and go on to win the Republican nomination.

The belief in the Giuliani camp is that he will do well enough in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Michigan to survive until February 5, when 20 states vote, including big states in which he would be expected to do well, such as New York and California.

"There are multiple paths to victory and everyone seems to be focused on the traditional path of winning the early states and then have the momentum throughout. What we see is the possibility of two paths," said Giuliani campaign manager Michael DuHaime.

While the candidate who wins in Iowa will likely try to ride a surge of momentum into New Hampshire and beyond, DuHaime said he believes Giuliani is strong enough in other states that he is "momentum proof."

The Romney campaign was not buying it.