(02-11) 04:00 PST Sacramento -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, arguing that America is in desperate need of a Ronald Reagan-style optimistic vision, told California Republicans on Saturday that he wants to be a president who will "win the world for a set of ideas ... that I believe come from God."

"We're for freedom, we're for the future, and in order to do that, we need leadership that uplifts us and moves us toward the future," Giuliani told the lunchtime crowd at the state GOP convention, all but formally declaring his candidacy for his party's presidential nomination. "You get to decide who that leader is going to be -- and I wish you'd decide on me."

Asked by reporters afterward when he would make a formal announcement of his 2008 presidential campaign, Giuliani joked, "If you listened to my speech, I may have announced it."

Giuliani, who last Monday filed a declaration of candidacy, is considered one of the early favorites in the GOP 2008 presidential contest with Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Giuliani's sold-out, $60-a-head lunch before 800 California Republicans -- with at least another 100 in overflow rooms -- was a hot ticket at the semi-annual GOP gathering at the Hyatt Hotel.

Giuliani's audience was primed for a lovefest: Excited Republicans in the hall jumped to their feet and cheered when scores of young volunteers waving "I (heart) Rudy" signs marched through the room, where the man introduced as "America's mayor" took the stage to the sound of the Clash tune "Rudie Can't Fail."

Giuliani regaled the crowd with self-deprecating stories of his days as a federal prosecutor, moved them with recollections of the horror of the Sept. 11 attacks and delivered an inspirational call to action regarding the nation's current problems. His speech was interrupted repeatedly by applause, cheers of "Rudy! Rudy!" and several standing ovations from the grassroots activists.

In his 45-minute address and in remarks to reporters afterward, Giuliani lavished praise on President Bush, insisting Bush will have "a very strong place in history," in part because of his "very brave and very wise" decision to go after al Qaeda in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We are very fortunate to have President Bush," Giuliani told the Republican delegates. "Presidents ... have to make decisions and move the country forward, and that's the kind of president I would like to be."

Democrats immediately seized on Giuliani's strong defense of the unpopular Republican president, saying it showed the former mayor is out of touch with voters in California and across the nation.

"Giuliani is part of Bush's three stooges," said state Democratic Party strategist Bob Mulholland, who noted that McCain, Romney and Giuliani "all support increasing the troop level in Iraq."

"When you look at (GOP) Senate candidates running away from Bush, you see the presidential candidates all running with Bush," Mulholland said. "It's almost as though they didn't read the (midterm) election results."

Giuliani, 62, a consultant and financier since leaving office, emphasized his qualifications, saying he had been challenged with "having had a job where I didn't have any choice but to decide, and to make decisions and to move things forward."

Giuliani's speech touched on a number of key issues but steered clear of policy details.

Talking about health care, for example, Giuliani seemed to distance himself from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new universal health care proposal by agreeing that while changes must be made, they should happen under the "free market system."

On school reform, he drew some of his biggest cheers when he called for parents to have more local control over where their children go to school.

In education, he said, "the Republican Party is for parents, the Democrats are for bureaucrats."

On immigration, Giuliani stressed the need for border control and called it a matter of national security.

"We need a (border) fence, and a highly technological one."

Giuliani also said he favored a program that would allow illegal immigrants already in the country to earn legal status. He toughened that stance by saying those immigrants should "display the ability to read and write English," and must assimilate into the American culture.

Still, "Giuliani's endorsement of an amnesty program for people in the country here illegally will not be popular among conservative Republicans," said Jon Fleischman, a newly elected official of the state GOP and publisher of FlashReport.org, a popular Republican Web site.

In addition to the volatile immigration issue, the former New York mayor and his backers were quick to deal with the potential problems a pro-choice, pro-gay rights, pro-gun control candidate could have in a California GOP primary.

Giuliani insisted that his many trips to California over the years will put him in a good position should state legislators continue their fast-track effort to move the state's presidential primary up to early February 2008.

An early vote in California "changes the whole nature of the (GOP) primary," he said.

Giuliani has clearly set his sights on beefing up his support in the state.

He had appearances in Southern California just three weeks ago, and has extended his current statewide swing from a scheduled three days to six days.

Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at the University of Southern California, said Giuliani has electrified Republicans in part because "the McCain momentum has flattened."

She says the Arizona senator is increasingly seen as "the author of the (troop) surge, joined at the hip of an unpopular president and an unpopular war."

McCain, for several years, has been the most vocal advocate of increasing troop levels in Iraq as well as a steadfast supporter of the president. He also has been a vigorous backer of Bush's current plan to add 21,500 U.S. troops to the war.

Many delegates at the convention, even stalwart conservatives, said they are willing to overlook some of what they see as Giuliani's political faults because they think he can win the White House in 2008.

Sophie Wong, president of Asian American Republican Women Federated, was one of many who barely contained her happiness at the prospect of meeting Giuliani at a reception where Republicans paid $100 for a close-up look at the former New York mayor.

"He has the charisma and the vision for our party," she said. "He's upbeat and positive. ... We may have differences with him, but the bottom line is that we are all Republicans."