Guiliani visits area to help Kirk

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani made a whirlwind visit to the 10th Congressional District Friday in hopes of bolstering U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's reelection campaign.

Soon after landing at Waukegan Regional Airport late Friday afternoon, Giuliani quickly recognized more than 20 Lake County police officers for fighting gangs, guns and drugs before being whisked away to a private fundraiser at a 10th District home.

Giuliani, who just hours earlier was in Vancouver giving crime-fighting advice, would not comment on the reason for his visit but was expected to spend a few hours in Kirk's district aiding his campaign.

Kirk, a Highland Park Republican in his fourth term, is facing a tough challenge in his second round against Democrat Dan Seals.

Seals, of Wilmette, garnered 47 percent of the vote against Kirk in 2006.

Kirk said Friday he wasn't shy about asking Giuliani for help building up his campaign war chest, despite Kirk's support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain since early in the primaries.

"I was McCain all the way," Kirk said, adding Giuliani graciously obliged. "I think the rule in politics is that you will be highly regarded, if you don't prevail, but you're still a good guy. I think that's what Hillary (Clinton) is doing, and that's what Rudy is doing."

Kirk has raised $4 million on his own.

The Republican party machine has not been able to come close to the $55 million Democrats had banked by the end of June to spend on congressional races across the nation. The Republicans had collected just $13 million.

Seals' campaign is expected to get a boost from national Democrats. In June, Michelle Obama held a fundraiser for Seals and Debbie Halvorson, who's running for the 11th Congressional District seat.

Seals could not be reached for comment Friday, but his campaign spokeswoman Elisabeth Smith issued this statement:

"First, Mark Kirk misses votes to attend a closed door, private fundraiser to support the failed McCain Agenda. Now, he is bringing in New York Republican Rudy Giuliani, who grossly attacked Barack Obama at the Republican Convention that Kirk attended."

As of last quarter, Seals had raised $2.2 million during the election cycle that began January 2007.

The 10th District includes communities in the eastern portion of Lake County and parts of northern Cook County with a total population of nearly 700,000 people.