Council Bluffs, IA — While his chief strategists discounted Iowa’s role in the presidential primary process on a Monday conference call, Rudy Giuliani returns to the Hawkeye State Wednesday for the third time in nearly three weeks. The quick stops come after Giuliani spent more than two months away between August and October.

He plans to hit two events in the Western part of the state today with scheduled stops in Council Bluffs and Rock Rapids. Giuliani’s visit also comes as two new polls show him in third place–continuing to lag behind Mitt Romney and now trailing a resurgent Mike Huckabee. The Giuliani camp sees the Huckabee uptrend as very positive as it splits the social conservative vote in IA and punches a hole in Romney’s argument that he is the true conservative in the race.

–A Strategic Vision poll has him at 12%, behind Mitt Romney with 30% and Mike Huckabee at 19%. Fred Thompson comes in fourth place with 11% and John McCain takes 7%.

–And the latest New York Times poll has similar numbers: Romney 27%, Huckabee 21%, Giuliani 15%, Thompson 9%, McCain 4% and Ron Paul at 4%.

Some fast facts that from the NYT poll that show a race that is still very much up for grabs: (c/o Corbett Riner–the FNC polling guru)

After the jump:

• Giuliani comes in fifth place among the major candidate when Iowans are asked who best “shares Iowans values.”
• For perspective: 39% of likely Caucus-goers call themselves Evangelical or “born again.” About 2/3 attend church on weekly basis and more than half are from gun-owning households.

The Giuliani camp will also take heart in some of these numbers:

• 38% of IA GOPers see Giuliani as the most electable candidate–the argument he is pushing on social conservatives.
• 57% of IA GOPers overall and 67% & 50% of Romney and Huckabee supporters respectively say it is too early to say if their minds are made up.
• 75% say they could vote for someone less conservative than themselves if they could win and 49% say they could vote for someone with different views on social issues

Campaign strategists says they are looking to fight for second place with Huckabee in Iowa, but still doubt that any major momentum for another candidate out of Iowa, or for that matter New Hampshire and the other early states will deter them from eventual victory in Florida and many of the February 5 primary states.