Edwards, Giuliani fundraisers up for grabs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The scramble is on to grab the support of fundraisers of former presidential candidates Democrat John Edwards and the GOP's Rudy Giuliani.

Edwards and Giuliani dropped out of the race for president Wednesday, opening the gates for supporters who had helped them raise a combined $100 million last year.

Democrats Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., were reported feverishly working to recruit Edwards' supporters going into next week's "Super Tuesday" primary.

While the campaign of Edwards, a former U.S. senator form North Carolina, had shown signs of imminent disintegration, many backers of Giuliani, a former New York mayor, appeared caught off guard, The Washington Post said.

As finance teams of the two remaining major Democratic contenders shifted gears, Clinton's campaign sent out an e-mail message with names of scores of women who had been backing Edwards, asking supporters to contact them.

Obama drew early support from prominent fundraisers Deborah Rappaport of San Francisco and Florida trial lawyer Mitchell Berger.

Giuliani has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and many of his supporters could be expected to support McCain's campaign.