McCain heading for Illinois, where he has new friends

Capitalizing on newfound momentum, Sen. John McCain is coming to Illinois gaining support from some prominent local Republicans.

Former Gov. Jim Thompson and top fundraiser Ron Gidwitz voiced support for McCain's candidacy Wednesday. Both had backed former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani until he dropped out of the race and endorsed McCain.

Gidwitz said he is "very likely" to go with McCain, the sudden Republican front-runner, who may benefit from fund-raisers formerly planned for Giuliani.

Thompson said McCain has proven he can appeal to voters across party lines.

He believes conservatives will judge that McCain is now the strongest candidate to beat the Democrats, and that is of greater concern than the differences between McCain and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Fresh off victories in South Carolina and Florida, McCain will hold a rally and fundraiser at the Odeum Sports Center & Expo in Villa Park Friday.

Romney canceled a campaign stop in Illinois Saturday to attend the funeral of the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but may reschedule.

He will rely on a base of conservative Republicans, while hoping to appeal to Chicagoans in part by supporting the city's bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

"Mitt Romney is in this to stay," his state campaign chairman, downstate State Sen. Dan Rutherford, emphasized.

Romney has to contend with conservative Mike Huckabee, who's popular with evangelicals downstate, said Mike Lawrence, director of the Paul Simon Institute at Southern Illinois University.

While McCain leads in Illinois, polls may be misleading, Lawrence said, because they miss the heavy conservative turnout in Republican primaries.

In the Democratic primary, despite Sen. Barack Obama's big lead in polls over New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, every vote remains crucial, because Democratic delegates are awarded by popular vote, not by winner-take-all.