"It would do more harm to the religious wing of the party," said King, a Giuliani supporter and Republican congressman from New York. "If they are successful it would mean they would be responsible for Hillary Clinton being president."

Ultimately, he doesn't think it's going to happen.

"They're not going to be successful," he said of Giuliani critics like James Dobson. "I think they are going to do very poorly."

But King also said he thought the prospect of President Hillary would be the very thing that would rally disparate parts of G.O.P. behind Giuliani.

"He is the one Republican that has the best chance of beating Hillary Clinton," said King. "Because having Hillary there makes the Republicans realize how serious this election is next year - that this is not just a theoretical debate. This is for real and he is the only one right now who can match her toe-to-toe as far as television ability or even the super-status that she has."