Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is leading in national polls of the Republican presidential field, is picking up support in North Carolina.

Giuliani will be the guest at a fundraiser on April 25 in Greensboro at the home of Dr. Aldona Wos, the former U.S. ambassador to Estonia, and her husband, Louis DeJoy.

Jim Culbertson, a Winston-Salem businessman who headed the two state campaigns for George W. Bush, will chair Giuliani's North Carolina campaign. DeJoy will be a co-chairman.

Culbertson said he was one of a group of two dozen key Bush fundraisers who decided to try to stick together and find a new candidate to support in 2008. The group interviewed the major GOP candidates in February. A majority of them settled on Giuliani.

"We were pretty much blown away by him," Culbertson said.

Culbertson said Giuliani could help Republicans win in Democratic-leaning areas.

"All we need is New Jersey and Pennsylvania and we have the next election," Culbertson said.

"He is basically conservative, outside the social issues."

Two days after his Greensboro fundraiser, Giuliani will be back in North Carolina to kick off the Conservative Leadership Conference, which will be April 27-28 at the Sheraton Raleigh Capital Center.

Most support Edwards' decision

The initial public response has been positive to the decision of John Edwards to continue campaigning despite the recurrence of cancer in his wife, Elizabeth.

A poll taken for USA Today found that Americans approved of the decision by a 2-1 margin. Of the 1,007 adults surveyed, 58 percent said Edwards should stay in the race, 29 percent said he should drop out and 13 percent had no opinion.

But Edwards still trails New York Sen. Hillary Clinton (35 percent), Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (22 percent) and former Vice President Al Gore (17 percent). Edwards was the choice of 14 percent of those surveyed.

The national survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percent.

Meanwhile, a University of Iowa poll found that the health disclosure had not hurt Edwards in the first caucus state, which is critical to Edwards' chances. Among Democratic caucus goers, Edwards still leads the field. His support rose among female caucus goers but fell among men.

"Obviously it will be some time before the full impact of the situation sinks in, and Edwards' chances in the future likely hinge at least in part on how the public perceives his ability to balance the challenge of running for president with the challenge of Elizabeth Edwards' medical condition," said David Redlawsk, a University of Iowa political science professor who oversaw the poll.

Graham tops GOP governor hopefuls

State Sen. Fred Smith of Clayton may be getting most of the attention in the GOP primary for governor these days, but Bill Graham's campaign still wants voters to know who is ahead.

The Graham campaign recently released a poll showing Graham, a Salisbury attorney, preferred by 16 percent of potential GOP voters, compared to 10 percent for former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr and 3 percent for Smith.

The survey was released around the time that Smith officially launched his campaign and the beginning of his TV campaign.

The poll, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates of Alexandria, Va., was conducted March 19-20 among 400 likely Republican primary voters. The survey had a plus or minus of 4.9 percent.

Price on way to Eastern Europe

U.S. Rep. David Price is leading a congressional delegation to Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia this week to help improve the operation of legislatures in the Eastern European nations.

Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, is chairman of the House Democracy Assistance Commission. The commission works to "strengthen legislatures in emerging democracies," Price's office said in a statement.

Price will be joined on the trip by U.S. Reps. Allyson Schwartz and Bill Shuster, both of Pennsylvania. Schwartz is a Democrat; Shuster is a Republican.

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