Top Policy Dog Steers Rudy Right

Giuliani is going to "Simon University," where think tank types school him to be a hawk and a tax-cutter, the Washington Post reports. Bill Simon hosts, teaching Giuliani how to think conservative heartland instead of New York elite. Simon, Giuliani's policy director, "has the added advantage of being a serious social conservative and a pro-lifer," one analyst says.

A Nixon insider's son, Simon lost his bid in the California gubernatorial primary by 5%. But he won over Giuliani by hosting talks for him with Stanford scholars last year. Now some New York insiders accuse Simon of spinning Giuliani into a conservative he never was, but Simon likens Giuliani to Bush in terms of policy: "I think I would shy away from pointing out differences" between them, he admitted. (More Rudy Giuliani stories.)