HAMPTON, N.H. (AP) – On a day when a new poll showed him trailing Sen. John McCain among New Hampshire Republicans, Rudy Giuliani managed to swipe at least one vote from the Arizona senator.

Betty Coughlin of Hampton said she was torn between McCain and Giuliani before hearing the former New York mayor speak in a crowded tavern Sunday afternoon. The main sticking point was Washington experience.

“Your ability to administrate has been proven above and beyond, but somebody like say, John McCain – and I’m sorry to throw him at you – he’s been an insider in Washington and he knows the ropes and all that,” she told Giuliani. “If you become president, how do you deal with all that?”

“John would be a really good adviser,” Giuliani said with a grin, then turned serious as he described McCain as a hero for whom he holds great respect. He told Coughlin that he knows his way around Washington well enough but still could offer a “fresh spirit.”

“I’ve worked with Washington a lot both as a United States attorney, as mayor, in business and in law practice. I’ve argued a case before the supreme court. I know my way around Capitol Hill,” he said. “I’m not an insider, but I almost think that might be an asset.”

“Bingo,” Coughlin said later, adding that she had made up her mind to vote for Giuliani in the Jan. 8 primary. “I know who I’m voting for, and it isn’t McCain.”

But the reverse may be more likely if the latest New Hampshire poll holds true. The poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center for the Boston Globe shows Mitt Romney and McCain about even at the top, at 28 percent and 25 percent respectively, followed by Giuliani in third place at 14 percent.