Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s senior advisers laid out their path to victory Monday morning, downplaying the importance of winning early states where Giuliani is trailing and insisting that later contests in delegate-rich states will propel the mayor to the Republican nomination.

New polls show former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney extending his lead over his nearest rivals in the traditional early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, but Giuliani’s advisers insist they can withstand early-state momentum and win the nomination in winner-take-all states like Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware where there are more delegates awarded.

“There are multiple paths to victory. And everyone seems to be, obviously, focused on the traditional path of winning the early states and then having momentum throughout,” DuHaime said on a conference call. “I think what we see is there’s a possibility of two paths. And obviously, we agree that there’s the ability for the momentum that comes out of early states, or we wouldn’t be as focused as we are on some of the early states. But we also recognize that, with so many large delegate-rich states moving up to so early in the process, that it’s impossible to think that it will be over after only three states vote.”

Romney’s campaign disputed the Giuliani campaign’s assertion that the former mayor can afford to lose the early states and still bounce back to victory relying heavily on Florida and the big states in play on Feb. 5.

Romney’s spokesman, Kevin Madden, said voters in Super Tuesday states “are not hermetically sealed off from the rest of the world until it’s their time to vote,” and those voters, much like Democrats in 2004, will be watching “to see who is winning, who has the momentum and what messages fellow Republican voters are responding to.”

“Theirs is a campaign strategy that’s based on just hope, and in politics, hoping ain’t the best strategy,” Madden said. “Giuliani’s insistence that voters in the states lined up right after the traditional early-primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire will somehow remain unaffected by the outcomes of early wins in those states is, quite simply, preposterous.”

DuHaime and strategy director Brent Seaborn took pains to stress that they “feel very competitive” in the early states, but the campaign appears to be putting most of its eggs in the second- and third-round baskets. That said, Giuliani has spent a great deal of time in New Hampshire, and at times this year he has appeared to be closing in on Romney.

Analysts caution that a Florida and Feb. 5 strategy is risky. They say Giuliani needs a win in New Hampshire, as Romney is heavily invested in Iowa and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has come on as a second-place threat in the Jan. 3 contest.

DuHaime and Seaborn acknowledged that Iowa “is extraordinarily important for momentum,” but they noted that the first-in-the-nation caucus doesn’t actually award any delegates. And New Hampshire, which was recently penalized by the RNC for holding its primary outside the approved window for early contests, has only 12 delegates, which are proportionately awarded.

Michigan’s plans are up in the air right now, and South Carolina awards delegates winner-take-all by congressional district.

“The first big treasure trove, obviously, is Florida. Florida has 57 delegates and will be a winner-take-all state,” DuHaime said. “So regardless of what happens in the early primaries, it’s safe to, I believe, assume that every single candidate, or every single major candidate, at least, will get some number of delegates out of the earlier states of New Hampshire and South Carolina and Michigan, obviously.”

Republican strategist Scott Reed said Giuliani’s gamble will not pay off if he does not win at least one of the early states, and his best hope appears to be in New Hampshire.

“Rudy is the front-runner,” Reed said. “No front-runner can afford to lose two in a row.”

Reed said Giuliani’s advisers seemed to realize this over the summer, when Giuliani began spending more time in the Granite State.

“Since the summer they’ve had to adjust their strategy,” Reed said. “It looks like they’re going to do a sneak-up on New Hampshire.”

Seaborn said he thinks New Hampshire is “setting up to be a very interesting battle,” but two recently released polls show Romney extending his lead after it appeared to narrow in the early fall.

A new Boston Globe poll shows Romney leading Giuliani 32 percent to 20 percent. In late September, the same poll showed the two men in a statistical tie. And a new Marist College poll shows Romney leading Giuliani 33 percent to 22 percent. In early October, the same poll showed Romney leading 26 percent to 20 percent.

DuHaime said Monday that the polling they see in Northeastern states set for Feb. 5 contests, however, shows Giuliani with leads that are “momentum-proof.”

But Reed said momentum from early wins has a way of turning those poll numbers around.

“What they’re missing is their support in those states will drop like a rock when they don’t look like the winner anymore,” Reed said.