Giuliani’s visit to the Mahoning Valley will be short

You need at least a grand to see Rudy.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER

VIENNA — Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani isn’t going to spend much time today in the Mahoning Valley, but his quickie trip will add between $50,000 and $90,000 to his campaign fund.

To be with Giuliani, about 50 to 60 people will pay $1,000 to $1,500. The extra $500 is for a “private reception with photo opportunity,” according to the event’s invitation.

Giuliani, who leads most GOP presidential polls, is expected to fly into the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna about 5 p.m.

The fundraiser at the Sodom Hutchings Road home of Thomas Schubert starts at 6 p.m., according to the invitation.

Giuliani’s plane leaves the airport about 8 p.m. and heads for Florida. Giuliani is participating in a Republican presidential debate Wednesday in St. Petersburg.

Unless you’re giving at least $1,000, you’re not going to see the former New York City mayor, much less get your picture taken with him.

Giuliani has no public events scheduled anywhere today, and the Schubert fundraiser is closed to the media, according to his campaign staff.

Schubert declined to comment Monday on the event at his home.

Giuliani will give opening remarks and then answer questions from those attending the fundraiser, said former U.S. Rep. Lyle Williams of Lordstown, co-chairman of the event.

“He won’t give a formal speech,” Williams said.

Former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, a Democratic presidential candidate, held a private fundraiser in Canfield in March, and returned in July for two nonfundraising invitation-only events. Those latter two events were open to the media.

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, also a Democratic presidential candidate, held a private fundraiser in June in Boardman, and briefly answered questions from the media after it ended.

Trumbull County Republican Party Chairman Craig Bonar is a co-chairman of the Giuliani event even though he supports actor and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson for president. Bonar’s wife, Wendy, is a Giuliani supporter.

Bonar said he’s excited that a major Republican presidential candidate is coming to the county.

“For a Republican in Trumbull County, it will be a good day,” he said. “For Republicans in Trumbull County, we don’t get very many good days.”

That’s because there are no Republican elected officials in Trumbull County who ran as Republicans in partisan races. Republicans hold nonpartisan seats in the county such as judges, trustees and school board members.

In the Democratic-dominated Mahoning Valley, a public appearance before the Ohio March primary by Giuliani would have “very little significance,” said Paul Sracic, chairman of the Youngstown State University political science department.

“There’s no reason for him to hold a rally here” before the primary, he said. “...There’s not a lot of Republican voters in the Valley.”

But if Giuliani were to win his party’s presidential nomination, it would be a good move for him to make a campaign stop in Youngstown to talk about how he fought crime while mayor of New York City, and how it could be applicable here, Sracic said.

skolnick@vindy.com