Illiniois on Giuliani

Krol in the Daily Herald,

Republican businessman Ron Gidwitz, a moderate, said Giuliani's support of abortion rights won't hurt him overall.

"He's a fiscal conservative and that appeals to the broad range of conservatives. He's a social moderate and that helps him in the general election," Gidwitz said.

Giuliani, who got a late start and is still putting together a campaign infrastructure in Illinois, huddled at a small private lunch with state Republicans before heading to the $1,000-a-head fundraiser at the Palmer House that was closed to reporters. Campaign officials wouldn't say how much the event was expected to raise. It was organized by Gidwitz, Aon Corp. executive Pat Ryan, venture capitalist Rich Earley and banker Robert Rodman.

Giuliani has a decent lead in early polls, with political site realclearpolitics.com's latest tracking putting him at 38 percent. But Giuliani said whoever's in the lead now "doesn't make much difference."

The Trib's coverage, and this in the Sun Times,

"Of all the cities that helped us after Sept. 11, Chicago helped us the most," he said. "One day I was actually driving through [New York] city about a month after Sept. 11, and I saw this police officer directing traffic. And the police officer had a Chicago uniform on. . . . He said, 'Mayor Daley sent me here."

Now that's a real politican talking!

PS: Illinois GOP needs to pay attention to Giuliani. He can teach the party how to reconcile some differences that should not be so divisive. They need to read Cal Thomas today.

xp at Bill Baar's West Side