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Lots of politicians have been mulling more than the apple cider and cinnamon sticks this past week:

They've been weighing whether to run for president, with many saying they will make their decision with their families over these holidays.

The public and the press wait and speculate as a political heavyweight like former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani launches a Web site and sets up a high-priced fundraiser or as Illinois Sen. Barack Obama just happens to show up in early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Here we are two years out, two years away from a presidential election, and essentially that race has already begun," said Fred Solop, a political-science professor at Northern Arizona University.

One byproduct of the great lengthening of presidential races — now more a marathon than, say, a sprint to the finish — is the sophistication and cultivation of presidential exploratory committees.

Essentially legal shells to allow candidates to raise money or use money from past campaigns while testing the waters, exploratory committees have become publicity magnets, beacons of conjecture and tools candidates use to get news stories quickly and easily.

"What this is about right now is getting exposure so more and more people know you are going to run and think about running," said Bruce Merrill, a political scientist with Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

"It brings attention to a candidate without bringing the heightened scrutiny," Solop said.

Candidates could, for example, announce they are thinking of forming an exploratory committee. Then they could announce they are forming one, followed by a visit to Iowa or New Hampshire and then an announcement — a lá Arizona Sen. John McCain's — that a decision will be made after the holidays.

Merrill used the example of Obama, who hasn't formed a committee, but whose political stock is rising faster than an investment in Google Inc.

"For the next few months, every time he has a press conference or interview he can say, 'Golly, I'm really thinking about it,' " Merrill said.

Just who sits on a presidential exploratory committee can vary.

McCain has formed a team of advisers and has been courting the GOP establishment.

But sometimes no one is on the committee, or it's made up of a few lawyers and political friends who essentially offer their names, Solop said.

"It's more a fundraising shell," he said.

Craig Goldman, spokesman for the John McCain 2008 Exploratory Committee, agreed the committee's purpose is for fundraising, but he dismissed the idea that it's a utility for publicity.

McCain will make a decision after the new year, Goldman said in an interview last week, adding that the committee was formed because he's "thinking about running."

"We will be ready when he makes a decision," he said.

Find more politics-related news at www.azstarnet.com/politics