Conservative Sen. Backs Rudy; Clinton 'Recruits' Crowley, Weiner
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Based on their belief that, if elected president of the United States, Rudy Giuliani will appoint conservative federal judges, two conservative Republicans, one of them a Congressmember, endorsed Giuliani for president in the 2008 elections.

Meanwhile, United States Senator Hillary Clinton was reported to have enlisted Congressmembers from New York, including Queens Democratic Leader Joseph Crowley, to try to lock up the support of other Democratic congressmembers from around the country.

Besides Crowley (D- Queens/The Bronx), others involved in this effort are Congressmembers Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn), Nita Lowey (Westchester) and Ed Towns (Brooklyn).

Giving Giuliani a big boost with the conservative faction, where many see major problems for the ex-New York City mayor, were Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, and Ted Olson, who was President George W. Bush's solicitor general.

Vitter, a conservative Southerner, said he didn't agree with Giuliani on issues like abortion rights, but he feels sure that Giuliani will not pursue any liberal social agenda.

"Obviously, I disagree with Rudy on some significant social issues," Vitter said. But he said he's backing Giuliani because "Rudy has the strong, unwavering leadership and sound judgment that we clearly need in this time of war and terror."

It is also significant that Vitter picked Giuliani over fellow Senator John McCain (R- Arizona) in the 2008 presidential race. Giuliani's comfortable lead over McCain who is considered a conservative stalwart, had led some conservatives to try to get other candidates in the race. Among the latter group are former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson, now a television actor.

Clinton's plan to line up the support of members of Congress is part of a larger plan to have their firm backing at presidential convention time.

At the convention, congressmembers are usually designated as "superdelegates" and as such, they can use their influence to steer other delegates to a given candidate, in this case Clinton.

Under Clinton's plan, Crowley will concentrate on mid-Atlantic lawmakers and Wiener will concentrate on those from Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois. Lowey is coordinating this effort. Towns said Clinton has also asked delegation members to share their lists of national contributors and power brokers.

Meanwhile, Clinton, who once could count on black support going her way, now has to extend her energies in that direction because her opponent, Illinois Senator Barack Obama, is making substantial inroads among black supporters. According to two recent polls of black Democrats, where Clinton led Obama 60- 20 in December and January in a Washington Post/ABC News poll, in February, Obama led Clinton 44- 30.

In a Zogby International poll in January, Clinton led Obama, 43- 16, but more recently, Obama overtook Clinton to lead her by 36 to 27 percent.