Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro (MNA Pakistan Peoples Party)

While Musharraf enjoys backing from the Pakistani-American elite, experts say he will be hard-pressed to develop a political base within his country and likely does not stand a chance against more established parties.

He is also in no position to campaign within Pakistan. Safety is a concern after multiple assassination attempts during his presidency, and he would likely face prosecution in connection with several criminal cases currently pending in Pakistani courts, experts said.

Still, Musharraf's interest in wooing deep-pocketed Pakistani-Americans is revealing, said Walter Andersen, associate director of the South Asia program at John Hopkins University.

Not only do Pakistani-Americans play a role in financially supporting candidates, but their meetings in America are covered by Pakistani news media and seem to give politicians the idea that they are gaining traction, Andersen said.

Former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif also visited U.S. communities while campaigning, he said.

"Whether it works is not important," Andersen said. "The perception among them (politicians) is that it works."

U.S. communities don't play a visible role in Pakistani elections, but Musharraf could stand to gain from his current North America tour, said Jamal Elias, an expert on contemporary Pakistan and chairman of the religious studies department at the University of Pennsylvania.

Musharraf's itinerary will include stops in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Toronto. He visited Dallas last week.

"Appearing statesman-like is going to help him in Pakistan," Elias said. "It's not going to build a constituency, but it may help him."

There are more than 75,000 people of Pakistani origin in the Houston area, which includes more than 800 doctors, executives in the energy and information technology industries and scores of business owners, according to the Consulate of Pakistan in Houston.

Many of them have in the past contributed financially to political parties in Pakistan and will likely do so again, said M.J. Khan, a former Houston city councilman and member of the Pakistani community.

Khan said he does not send money to Pakistani political candidates, but knows U.S. residents in Houston and elsewhere who do. "They're an educated community, and they send a lot of resources to Pakistan," Khan said. "So I think every politician in Pakistan feels the Pakistani-American community is an important group to reach out to."

Some community members - including Sajjad Burki, president of a Houston chapter for a political party headed by Pakistani cricket star Imran Khan - were not sure of the former president's legitimacy as a candidate. Burki questioned Musharraf's campaign tactics and priorities.

"It doesn't make sense for him to be creating a political party and campaigning abroad rather than campaigning in Pakistan," he said.

Herring, who is hoping to build support for Musharraf's candidacy, said she planned to back him because of his support for her development efforts in Afghanistan.

"I think that Musharraf is interested in my plan," Herring said. "I know he is. He supports it."

Musharraf, a retired general, said he hopes a possible election to office will give him "the legitimacy that maybe I didn't have in the past" as someone who had seized control of the government in a 1999 military coup.

He spent much of a luncheon Tuesday discussing the threats to Pakistan created by instability and lack of development in Afghanistan. Asked how he would solve that and a host of other challenges, Musharraf paused and smiled at his audience.

"First of all, get me elected," he said.