PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani ducked into Portland Saturday for a private fundraiser at a supporter's home, then headed to a New York-style delicatessen to mingle with voters, where he was met by dozens of anti-war protesters equating him with the Bush administration.

Portland is traditionally Democratic country, as evidenced by the jeers that greeted Giuliani. But those inside the restaurant left their pastrami-on-pumpernickel sandwiches and lined up to have their pictures taken with the candidate, who offered praise for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and jabbed at Democratic rival Hillary Clinton during his brief visit.

"Newt is a good friend of mine, one of the real geniuses of American politics," Giuliani said of Gingrich, who announced Saturday that he won't join the Republican race for the presidential nomination. "Had he run, he would have been a formidable candidate."

And Giuliani criticized the proposal floated this week by Clinton to give every child born in the United States a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home, saying it showed "a desire to say anything people want to hear ... and the pent-up Democratic desire to spend money, to spend the federal government into oblivion."

Giuliani is the latest in a string of high-profile presidential candidates to touch down in Oregon, a state that's more accustomed to being passed over during primary season, especially since its primary isn't scheduled until May, when nominees from both parties will likely already be decided. On West Coast swings, candidates usually head to wealthier enclaves in the Seattle suburbs, or California.

But Giuliani's visit, and recent stops in the state by Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards, suggest that Oregon retains its status as a swing state, despite the Democratic tide that washed over the state in the 2006 elections.

"Why bother with Oregon, otherwise?" said Republican pollster Bob Moore. "They are not going to raise enough money to make it worth their stop. Why come to Oregon if you don't think it is a possible win?"

The state has sided with the Democrats in the last five presidential elections. But those elections have always been close calls, Moore said, with no Democrat ever winning with more than 52 percent of the vote. Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith is a Republican who has managed two statewide wins, and the Democrats hold a very slim majority in the state House of Representatives, just 31-29.

And the pool of nonaffiliated voters in the state has been growing, leaving plenty of votes up for grabs by either party.

Polls show that the state's voters remain closely divided, particularly if Clinton, currently the front-runner in national polls and one of the only leading candidates who has yet to visit Oregon this season, wins the Democratic nomination.

In a poll of 537 registered voters released this week by national polling firm Survey USA, Giuliani and Clinton were virtually tied in Oregon, with 46 percent of respondents saying they would vote for Clinton, and 44 siding with Giuliani. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.3 percent. Clinton holds significantly larger leads in Oregon in matchups with the other Republican candidates, garnering 49 percent of the voters polled to Thompson's 42 percent, and 51 percent to Romney's 38 percent.

"I certainly think he puts swing states in play, including Oregon," said U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who accompanied Giuliani on his visit to Rose's Deli in Portland, but would not say that he is formally endorsing the mayor.

Democratic activists remain confident that the state will stay in their column. But even some of them privately concede that if Clinton is the nominee, more money will have to be diverted to get-out-the-vote efforts within Oregon.

The Survey USA results also suggest that Giuliani could resonate with the state's nonaffiliated voters. He does better with independent voters in Oregon than either Clinton or Edwards, and trails Obama by just three percent among that voting group, within the margin of error.

Sivia Kaye, who said she was registered as an non-affiliated voter, said she was a Giuliani fan, especially as a former New Yorker.

"I thought he shepherded the city beautifully through a tragic time," she said after the mayor kissed her hand in greeting at Rose's. "I do not think he is exploiting 9-11. He has to mention where he was on that eventful day."

After Oregon, Giuliani headed to Seattle for a final event. He began the day speaking to Republican women in Palm Springs, Calif.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)