Bush dines with Daley on 60th
July 7, 2006

BY KATE N. GROSSMAN Staff Reporter





President Bush kicked off a two-day visit to Illinois Thursday night by celebrating his 60th birthday with Mayor Daley and business leaders at a South Loop restaurant.

"Laura said, 'What do you want for your birthday?' I said I want to have dinner in Chicago with the mayor," a jovial Bush told the press corps and his guests in a private room at the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant at 14th and Michigan. Daley is a regular there.

"I've got a lot of birthday wishes," Bush, dressed casually in a blue button-down shirt, continued. "I hope the troops are safe. I hope Roger Ebert does well."

Ebert, the Chicago Sun-Times' iconic film critic, underwent emergency surgery earlier this week.




President Bush blows out the candles on his birthday cake Thursday evening at the Chicago Firehouse Restaurant, where he celebrated his 60th birthday with Mayor Daley. (JON SALL/ SUN-TIMES)
Bush is in Illinois to headline a fund-raiser for state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, the Republican candidate for governor. With the governor's race heating up and two high-profile U.S. House seats up for grabs in the west and northwest suburbs, the White House seems intent on rallying the Illinois GOP to reclaim the Land of Lincoln as a red state.

Topinka fund-raiser today



At the Firehouse Restaurant, the small group gathered around a rectangular, handcrafted wood table in the restaurant's baroque-style Wine Cellar Room. Daley sat at the president's left. There was no mention of the conviction earlier Thursday of the mayor's former patronage chief in a scheme to rig the city hiring process to reward political workers.

Other guests included the chairmen of the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange; the CEOs of the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce, the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Manufacturers Association, and the top men at Exelon and Caterpillar.

The White House booked the Topinka fund-raiser first and then built an extended trip around it. Typically, the president comes to town for just one event, but the Chicago trip is the start of occasional presidential trips around the country, the White House said.

Today, he'll breakfast with business leaders, followed by a news conference at the Museum of Science and Industry -- the first of his presidency outside Washington. The museum will be closed to the public until 1 p.m.

Visit to Aurora company planned



After the lunchtime Topinka event at the Drake Hotel, he'll head to Cabot Microelectronics in Aurora. There, he'll talk about his "American Competitiveness Initiative," announced in his January State of the Union address. Bush wants to encourage more investment by businesses in research and development, increase federal support for basic research in the physical sciences and improve math and science education for American students.

Thursday night, he was also set to honor Dave Kruger of Lindenhurst, a volunteer with the United Service Organizations of Illinois.

At the Firehouse dinner, Bush ordered Filet Oscar, topped with crabmeat, asparagus and Bearnaise sauce. The group sang to the president, who blew out candles on a cake that read: "Happy 60th Birthday, Mr. President."

kgrossman@suntimes.com




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