Mackinac Island, Mich. — This weekend, Mackinac is host to the largest event for GOP presidential contenders until the Iowa Caucuses (provided that they come first, of course). This place is beautiful, but very hard to reach. Republicans from all over had to fly in to airports you’ve probably never heard of, like Alpena, Saginaw, and Grand Rapids, then drive up past the 45th Parallel (half-way, the sign says, between the Equator and the North Pole) to catch the ferry from Mackinaw City.

Giuliani speaks in about ten minutes at tonight’s dinner at Grand Hotel, so I’ll be brief.

The biggest controversy will be tomorrow night, when Sen. John McCain speaks. McCain has been surging in the polls nationwide, but on Monday his Michigan state chairman, Attorney General Mike Cox, stepped down. Cox was to introduce McCain, but obviously that isn’t going to happen now.

Fred Thompson will also be speaking here. I ran into a Fred Thompson confidant today who said confidently that FDT will be competitive in Michigan even though it isn’t in their strategy, and despite the massive efforts here by Romney and Giuliani. We shall see…

The setup here doesn’t make it pracical to live-blog the event, but keep an eye on the Corner for coverage of Giuliani tonight and the other candidates tomorrow.

UPDATE: Two helpful Michigander press aides have just explained to me that Mackinac Island is spelled with a “c” at the end, whereas Mackinaw City is spelled with a “w.” Both are pronounced the same.

Any idea why? “Nope.”