"I've always liked strong, macho men, and Rudy — I'm not saying this because he's my husband — is one of the smartest people on the planet," gushed the former Judith Nathan to Harper's Bazaar in editions due out Feb. 20.

"What people don't know is that Rudy's a very, very romantic guy. We love watching 'Sleepless in Seattle.' Can you imagine my big testosterone-factor husband doing that?"

Describing Rudy, a former federal prosecutor, as "the Energizer Bunny with no rechargeable batteries," Judi said, "One of the most remarkable things about my husband, who sleeps three or four hours a night, is his energy level and stamina.

Giuliani's 21-year-old son, Andrew, told The New York Times that he would be too busy working on his golf game to participate in his father's presidential campaign.

"There's obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife," the younger Giuliani told the newspaper. "And we're trying to figure that out. But as of right now it's not working as well as we would like."

Giuliani's marriage to his third wife, Judith Nathan, followed his divorce from Donna Hanover, the mother of Andrew and Caroline.

In 2000, Giuliani announced during a live TV interview that he planned to divorce Hanover. She responded by publicly accusing Giuliani of adultery.

Caroline Giuliani has not spoken publicly, but the Times and New York's tabloid newspapers reported that she was also alienated from her father as a result of his marriage to Nathan.

The New York Daily News reported that Giuliani rarely spends time with his children and that he had failed to attend many important events in their lives, including Andrew's golf tournaments and Caroline's school plays.

Campaigning in Southern California on Monday, Giuliani asked for privacy to deal with the strained relationship with his children.

"My wife Judith is a very loving and caring ... mother and stepmother. She has done everything she can. The responsibility is mine," Giuliani said. "The more privacy I can have for my family, the better we are going to be able to deal with all these difficulties."

Political analyst Charles Cook told Newsday that the latest twist would hurt Giuliani with the GOP's conservative voters.

"This is just going to be one of a thousand cuts," Cook told the newspaper. "This will just sort of fit into a whole constellation of issues that work against someone winning a conservative party's nomination, a party that thinks of itself as a pro-family party. This just makes it really hard."

BLITZER: Romney won that straw poll, which, of course, is non- binding, non-scientific, at the Conservative Political Action Conference. The "L.A. Times" had a poll out among RNC members. He came in with 20 percent, Giuliani 14, McCain 10, Gingrich eight. Everybody else sort of weighed down. Mitt Romney -- some have said he's flip-flopped on a lot of these issues, social issues that are so important to you, like abortion rights for women.

Do you accept his explanation why he's changed his views since he ran for governor of Massachusetts?

PENCE: Well, let me say I'm -- you were kind enough to mention that a -- I'd like people to know I am a Christian, which means I believe in grace. I believe in conversion. I think one of the...

BLITZER: You believe him?

PENCE: I -- you know, I do. I take -- I've had a chance to sit down with Governor Romney personally and I think -- I think his decision on embracing the sanctity of human life was a deeply personal decision. And however recent, I think I'm a -- I'm a part of a pro- life movement that welcomes people coming to the moral rationale to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

BLITZER: So you think his change is sincere?

PENCE: I really do. And, obviously, you know, this is an area where there's going to be a wide range of opinions. John McCain's great advantage on this particular issue is while he's alienated conservatives on a few things, like campaign finance reform and other issues, this is an issue -- on the right to life -- where John McCain has always been, with a very few exceptions, rock solid.


BLITZER: Why is his campaign not generating the excitement among conservatives that, clearly, it's not, given these -- these most recent numbers?

PENCE: Well, look, I have great respect for Senator McCain. But you know better than almost anybody in the media that John McCain is a maverick. And he has, whether it be his opposition to President Bush's tax cuts early in this administration or his advancement of the McCain-Feingold legislation...

BLITZER: The campaign finance reform. A lot of conservatives hated that...

PENCE: Well, I...

BLITZER: And you were one of them.

PENCE: I was the House plaintiff in the lawsuit that, with Senator McConnell, went all the way to the United States Supreme Court challenging that on first amendment grounds. And, recently, his partnership with Senator Kennedy on immigration -- I had some problems with that.

BLITZER: What about Rudy Giuliani?

Because on major social issues like abortion, gay rights, gun control, his stance is very, very different than yours, historically speaking?

PENCE: Well, that's right. And...

BLITZER: Could you vote for him if he were the Republican nominee?

PENCE: Well, let me say, you know, what I'm waiting to hear from Mayor Giuliani as a -- as a pro-life conservative is, sure, I know that on a personal basis, he endorses abortion on demand. But what I'm hearing -- I'm waiting to hear from him, who has a very conservative record as a prosecutor, a very conservative record as a mayor in virtually every other respect, is what will be his criteria for appointments to the federal bench.

Now, he's indicated that he's looking for judges like Justice Scalia and Justice Alito. If that's the case, then that's going to be intriguing to myself and, I think, to millions of pro-life conservatives around the country.

BLITZER: So you're leaving the door open...

PENCE: But it's a challenge.

BLITZER: You're leaving the door open to supporting him?

PENCE: Well, I am, because, to that extent that a candidate for president holds pro-choice views but is willing to appoint strict constructionists to the court, I think pro-life Americans could see in that the possibility of ultimately achieving the end of dismantling "Roe v. Wade."