In the bizarre, Byzantine and always-entertaining world of Chicago and Cook County politics, an astute observer must be able to discern the shill, the proxy or the stalking horse, if any, in a given race.

The shill is a candidate running not to win, but rather to drain votes from another candidate for the benefit of a third candidate. Candidate A recruits Candidate C (shill) in order to siphon votes from Candidate B and elect Candidate A.

A proxy is a protege or strong supporter of somebody outside the district who wants to beat somebody inside the district. Powerhouse A recruits and funds Candidate A so as to defeat Candidate B, who either is an enemy of Powerhouse A or is allied with Powerhouse B, Powerhouse A's rival or enemy.

A stalking horse is a candidate who is being used by Politician A to further Politician A's ambitions.

Here, for those who have a lust to know, is an early exposé of 2008's shills, proxies and stalking horses:

Republican presidential primary: The outcome of this race, featuring Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson, will not presage the outcome of the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary, but a flock of 2010 aspirants are riding presidential stalking horses.

The 2010 field includes Ron Gidwitz, Tom Cross, Bill Brady, Dan Rutherford, Jim Durkin and possibly Jim Oberweis and Andy McKenna. Gidwitz got 10.9 percent of the vote in the 2006 primary for governor, while Brady got 18.4 percent and Oberweis got 31.7 percent. Rutherford ran for secretary of state in 2006, losing by 1,045,399 votes to Jesse White and getting 33.1 percent of the vote.

In the Feb. 5 primary, Gidwitz, a millionaire businessman, and Cross, the Republican leader in the Illinois House, are running the Giuliani campaign, Rutherford, a state senator, is running the Romney campaign, Durkin, a state representative, is running the McCain campaign, and Brady, a state senator, is running the Thompson campaign. Their 2008 strategy is simple: Generate lists of volunteers and contributors and then use those names in 2010. Oberweis is running for Congress. If he wins, he'll likely stay put in 2010; if he loses, he's finished. McKenna is the state party chairman.

Cook County State's Attorney: Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica got 46 percent of the vote in 2006 as the Republican candidate for Cook County Board president. Given incumbent Democrat Todd Stroger's fumbling and bumbling, the 2010 Republican nomination to oppose him is worth having. Peraica and county Commissioner Liz Gorman both want it.

Peraica is running for state's attorney in 2008, viewing that campaign as a win-win situation. If he becomes Cook County's top prosecutor, he's in a position to run for governor in 2010. If he loses, he has at least maintained his visibility and name identification, which will aid him for 2010. According to Republican insiders, Peraica views Democrat Howard Brookins as another Todd Stroger.

Peraica thinks that if Brookins, who is black, wins the Democratic primary, he can defeat him; if a white candidate such as Alderman Tom Allen wins, Peraica will be lucky to crack 40 percent of the vote.

Gorman, the Republican county chairman and the Orland Township committeeman, wants to make Peraica's life difficult. She and her allies, including such committeemen as Maureen Murphy (Worth Township), Tony Castrogiovanni (Berwyn Township) and Jim Parelli (19th Ward), circulated petitions for Ed Barron, a young assistant state's attorney. Now Peraica faces a nasty primary against Gorman's proxy, which will drain his resources and damage his credibility if he doesn't get 75 percent of the vote or better.

"What's wrong with her?" asked one Republican committeeman of Gorman. "She couldn't recruit anybody to run for recorder, clerk of court or Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. For the first time in history, every Democrat is unopposed. Yet she finds somebody to run against Tony."

42nd Ward (Gold Coast, North Loop): In this affluent area of high-rise condominiums, the Republicans have a solid base. Back in 1992, President George Bush got 11,136 votes in the ward, his second best showing in Chicago. His son got 10,972 votes in 2000 and 11,696 in 2004. Republican Committeeman Rich Gordon got 44 percent of the vote in the 2003 aldermanic race and was poised to run again in 2007, but he lacked big money and didn't file, and longtime Alderman Burt Natarus lost to Democrat Brendan Reilly, who spent more than $800,000.

Gordon was re-elected committeeman in 2004 with 59.9 percent of the vote in a turnout of 1,878; he resigned in 2005, and his protege, Eloise Gerson, was named to the post by then-chairman Gary Skoien. When Skoien resigned in early 2007, Gerson backed Tom Swiss, the party's executive director, for chairman, as did Peraica, the Lyons Township committeeman. Swiss lost to Gorman. After becoming chairman, Gorman bounced Gerson, as was her prerogative. Party rules give the chairman to right to remove any non-elected committeeman.

Thus, instead of having a strong, growing, vibrant Republican ward organization, chaos reigns. In the primary, Gerson is running for committeeman, as is Leslie Logsdon, who is backed by Gorman and the supporters of Susan Simmons, the appointed committeeman. Clark Pellett, the outgoing 2nd Ward committeeman, moved into the ward and is backing Shane Montgomery. Also running is James Febbrini.

Gordon worked hard to build the party, and Gerson likely will prevail -- the Peraica proxy beating the Gorman proxy. But it will be a Pyrrhic victory. Turnout in the 2004 Republican primary was only 2,265, so 800 votes is enough to win. The losers will then shun the winner, and the party, in a Chicago ward where Republicans should be viable, will remain fractious and divided.

32nd Ward (Wicker Park, south Lakeview): It's déjà vu in this upscale ward, where Bush got 6,760 votes (30.4 percent of the total) in 2000 and 7,923 votes (28.6 percent) in 2004. As in the 42nd Ward, the Democratic organization has imploded: Alderman Ted Matlak was defeated in 2007 by an independent, Scott Waguespack. Affluent liberals are buying $500,000 condos and $1 million townhomes, Poles and Ukrainians are being pushed out, and the Republicans are in a stupor.

In 2004 all the Republican committeeman candidates were knocked off the ballot, including the incumbent, John Curry. Skoien then appointed Kent Griffiths to the post, and he labored mightily on behalf of Peraica, who won the ward 7,605-6,615 over Stroger. After Griffiths backed Swiss for chairman, Gorman bounced him and appointed Curry.

It takes a measly 38 signatures to run for Republican committeeman in the ward, and Curry filed, as did attorney Steve Boulton and businesswoman Susan Radzinowicz. Gorman is backing Curry, who already is being attacked as a pawn of the Democrats: Three of his petition sheets reportedly were circulated by Matlak, the Democratic committeeman, who is retiring. Boulton is allied with Peraica. Turnout in the 2004 primary was 936, so 400 votes is enough to win. Outlook: With two foes, Curry is favored.

27th Ward (Near West Side: University of Illinois, Medical Center, Chicago Stadium): This ward still has a black majority, and Secretary of State Jesse White is the Democratic committeeman, but the white population is surging. Swiss is the Republican committeeman, but Gorman fired him as the party's executive director, and now she's backing Joe Swiatek against him for committeeman. Swiss is favored.

43rd Ward (Lincoln Park): Get it in writing. Unfortunately, political promises never are reduced to paper. In the 2007 aldermanic race, incumbent Vi Daley was forced into a runoff with Michele Smith, which she won by 549 votes. In the primary, Tim Egan got 12 percent of the vote, to Daley's 48 percent and Smith's 33 percent. Egan then endorsed Daley, reportedly extracting a promise from her to back him for Democratic committeeman in 2008, when Peg Roth was expected to retire. But Daley's chief of staff, Chuck Eastwood, filed for committeeman, as did Smith and Egan. The outlook: Daley is backing Eastwood. Egan will finish third, with Eastwood and Smith in a tight race.

26th Illinois House District (South Loop to Hyde Park, east of Wabash): This is the championship, a bout between the proxies of state Senate President Emil Jones and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan -- two powerhouses who detest each other. The Democratic incumbent is Elga Jefferies, who was the 19-year legislative assistant to the much-beloved black incumbent, Lou Jones, who died in 2006. Madigan will exert maximum effort to protect his member. Will Burns, a former deputy chief of staff to Jones, is running, and he has the endorsements of Jones and of Aldermen Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Bob Fioretti (2nd), Pat Dowell (3rd) and Sandi Jackson (7th) and state Senator Kwame Raoul (D-13).

Also running are Kenny Johnson, who lost to Fioretti in 2007 when he had the backing of U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., former city school chief of staff Phil Jackson and corporate attorney Paul Chadha, who is white. The outlook: Burns will win, and it will be victory for Jones over Madigan.