Giuliani Notes: Voters Love Rudy in Fresno, California

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani signs an autograph at the River Park shopping center Monday in Fresno.

Fresno Bee: Giuliani rouses backers in Fresno

Rudy Giuliani is considered a moderate Republican, but if the all-but-certain presidential candidate’s Monday reception in Fresno is any indication, he is doing well among conservatives in the central San Joaquin Valley.

“He’s a proven entity,” said Fran Blackney, business advocate and communications director at the Clovis Chamber of Commerce.

Blackney, who supports Giuliani for president, said she likes the way the former New York City mayor “cleaned up” the nation’s largest city and how he has made fighting terrorism a top priority.

Ken May, chairman of the Fresno County Republican Central Committee, said Giuliani is “the most electable” of all the people seeking the GOP presidential nomination.

Blackney and May were part of a group of about 100 mostly dedicated Republican activists who waited outside Mimi’s restaurant in Fresno’s River Park shopping center to greet Giuliani, who is making a swing through the Valley after addressing the state Republican convention in Sacramento over the weekend.

So, is California becoming “Rudy Country?”

You betcha……..

And the people like – ahem – love him………

After greeting diners at Mimi’s, Giuliani headed to the exclusive north Fresno home of Jerry and Paula DeYoung for a $2,100-per-person fundraiser. About 100 people attended. Today, he is scheduled to attend the opening ceremonies of the World Ag Expo in Tulare.

At Mimi’s, Giuliani spoke briefly to the media, saying the nation must win in Iraq. Whether the nation wins there or not, terrorism will continue, he said, but victory will carry with it advantages in the greater war against terrorists.

On immigration reform, Giuliani said safety and security for the nation top his list, but he also said a system needs to be established to supply workers to agriculture that also provides an avenue to citizenship.

Becoming a citizen should include learning English “so we have Americanization as part of immigration,” he said.

Showing up an hour late to Mimi’s, Giuliani shook hands and signed autographs before moving inside, where he mixed with surprised diners.

He started by sampling some of Fresno resident Donita Ghimenti’s blackened chicken quesadilla. Ghimenti, a Republican, said Giuliani has her vote.

“I love him,” she said.

Stay tuned……

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