NEW YORK - Rudy Giuliani tried to bounce back from the "flu-like symptoms" that sidelined his campaign Friday, traveling to an upstate New York fundraiser Friday night but scaling back planned appearances in New Hampshire this weekend.

The former New York City mayor said his schedule had been trimmed to allow him to fully recover from the illness that last week landed him in a St. Louis hospital. "I feel great. I feel terrific," Giuliani said as he arrived at the Rochester, N.Y., airport for the fundraiser.

He arrived in New Hampshire yesterday afternoon for a town hall meeting and a house party - but dropped a second previously scheduled visit with local supporters yesterday and left his schedule for today open.

Giuliani is skipping stops at a crucial time, as a new Gallup Poll for the Jan. 8 New Hampshire primary shows him sliding to a distant third, with just 11 percent of the vote in a state he once hoped to win outright. Mitt Romney is leading with 34 percent, and John McCain is a close second with 27 percent.

Hewing to the closemouthed approach adopted earlier this week, his campaign declined to elaborate further on what led to the presidential candidate’s overnight stay in a St. Louis hospital on Wednesday, what tests he underwent or what treatment, if any, he received there.

It was, some political observers said, the wrong way to handle an ostensibly minor health problem.

"You don’t want a mystery to distract from the issues on the campaign," said political consultant George Arzt, who handled the media scrum when then-Mayor Ed Koch suffered a minor stroke in 1987.

Still, others said such incidents were to be expected on the campaign trail. "Clearly health of a potential president is of great interest," said Doug Muzzio, a professor at Baruch College. "But at the same time, these people are totally burnt out and exposed to all kinds of germs, and you’ve got to believe that they’re worn down, and they get sick."

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