Report: Giuliani, Christie to meet

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) will meet over lunch Wednesday amid speculation that the former could jump into the presidential race. 

According to media reports, Giuliani and Christie are scheduled to eat together in New York City. Buzz around a second Giuliani campaign began in earnest this month, and an adviser to the ex-mayor told The Hill that he is considering a presidential bid in 2012.

Christie, meanwhile, has been urged by Republican activists to jump into the race. But he has said firmly on multiple occasions he is not running in 2012. He told CNN on Tuesday night that he is "100 percent certain I'm not going to run."

GOP presidential candidates, however, are competing for Christie's endorsement, and the governor has met with several of them. Following Monday's presidential primary debate, Christie said that he's not ready to pick a favorite.

"A lot of those folks impress me personally. But none of them have emerged in my mind yet as the best option," he said. "When one of them do, I'll say it publicly."

Giuliani was an early front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, but he employed an unorthodox primary strategy that focused on Florida and ignored early states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, and his bid quickly flamed out.

The former mayor has said he regrets that decision and has made several visits to New Hampshire, the first-in-the-nation primary state, this year.

---