Several U.S. presidential hopefuls rushed to California this weekend, as a key fund-raising deadline approaches and the state has decided to move its presidential primary earlier next year.

Four candidates for the 2008 presidential election, including front-runners Senator Hillary Clinton and former New Yorker Mayor Rudy Giuliani, were expected to appear at their fund-raising programs here Saturday, just a week before the end of the quarterly campaign fund-raising period.

Democratic front-runner Clinton would conduct a fund-raising dinner in Beverly Hills, while Giuliani, who is leading the Republican field, would conduct a fund-raiser in Newport Beach.

Clinton's dinner at Greenacres, the Beverly Hills mansion owned by billionaire investor Ron Burkle, was expected to draw 1,000 people, including former California Governor Gray Davis, according to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.

Reports have said the Clinton campaign would raise 2 million dollars from the event, topping the 1.3 million dollars that Barack Obama, her arch rival in the Democratic camp, raised last month at a Beverly Hilton reception.

Two other Democratic candidates, Dennis Kucinich, a congressman representing Ohio, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson were also conducting their fund-raisers in the area Saturday.

Clinton's high-profile fund-raiser, which is reportedly charging 2,300 dollars per person for the dinner, the maximum individual contribution for a single campaign, comes after a recent poll showed her lead in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Although the first official votes in the nominating will not be cast until the Jan. 14 Iowa caucuses, a key deadline is approaching -- the March 31 end of the quarterly fund-raising period. Candidates are required to file fund-raising reports with the Federal Election Commission by April 15.

Candidates with disappointing fund-raising totals could be forced to drop out, while those who have had unexpected success could find themselves propelled into the top tier, with continued fund-raising momentum.

Meanwhile, after California decided last week to move the presidential primary from the end of the campaign in June to Feb. 5 -- less than a month after the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary kick off the 2008 voting, big candidates will pay more attention to courting California's voters, not just its contributors, analysts said.

California voters generally see the candidates only at expensive fundraisers, but Republican candidate Giuliani's visit to a restaurant Friday dramatized what could become the norm in the state: a presidential candidate engaging in retail politics by talking with real voters.

He reportedly shook dozens of hands, smiled, kissed babies, posed for countless photos and even gave away his tie to a supporter as he walked through the crowded bistro in Oakland near San Francisco.

Giuliani is considered among the leading Republican contenders with U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.

Supporters said Giuliani, with his strong record after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, was good on social and security issues and, more importantly, could beat the Democratic front- runner Clinton, who is also from New York.

Source: Xinhua