'Leave my family alone,' Giuliani tells critic at N.H. meeting

DERRY, N.H. -- Rudy Giuliani told a woman at a town hall meeting yesterday to "leave my family alone" after she asked him how he "can expect the country to be loyal to you if your own family isn't?"

The Republican presidential hopeful was confronted by Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien, 36, of Derry about well-publicized reports that some family members may not be supporting him. His daughter, for example, posted in an Internet profile that she was supporting Democrat Barack Obama, though she later deleted the reference.

"I love my family very, very much and will do anything for them. There are complexities in every family in America," Rudy Giuliani replied. "The best thing I can say is kind of leave my family alone, just like I'll leave your family alone."

Prudhomme-O'Brien, a conservative activist who is not supporting any presidential candidate, questioned Al Gore at a town meeting in 1999 and Senator Hillary Clinton last month, and appeared on a Fox News show last month. She said she did not want to be offensive with her question, but found his answer "troubling."

JAMES W. PINDELL

For a noncandidate for president, Fred Thompson is continuing to talk and travel like the real thing.

He plans to appear today in the first-caucus state of Iowa, where his spokespeople say via e-mail that he will be "available to meet and greet GOP supporters." Like numerous declared candidates, Thompson will speak at the Iowa State Fair and, in an unusual step for him, will make himself available to the media. He also will travel to St. Louis on Tuesday to speak to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.

At the same time, Thompson, who has given few interviews, sat down for two hours with Washington Post columnist David Broder, who published the result yesterday in a piece titled "Fred Thompson's Gamble." It focused on Thompson's concern about budgetary issues.

Thompson is still in a testing-the-waters stage of a campaign, though the "Law and Order" actor and former US senator from Tennessee might announce his decision the week of Labor Day.

MICHAEL KRANISH

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s presidential campaign has struggled to gain altitude in polls and fund-raising, but the Delaware Democrat this week received the kind of news that would cheer any author, let alone a presidential candidate.

His autobiography, "Promises To Keep," has attained literary lift: It will debut at No. 15 on this Sunday's hardcover nonfiction bestseller list in The New York Times.

Although it's not exactly Harry Potter territory, Biden's status as bestselling author has garnered him a new round of attention, including appearances on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and at the Border's bookstore in Downtown Crossing on Tuesday.

The book was released July 31. Publisher Random House bills it as "a book about resilience" after personal and political setbacks. Biden, who has long been known for his long-winded answers, gave himself 365 pages to tell his story.

MICHAEL KRANISH

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- A waitress who had a well-documented confrontation with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said the news coverage put her and her boss at the Red Arrow Diner in hot water.

"I don't really want to talk about it other than to say I shouldn't have done it there when I was working," Michele Griffin said in an interview.

During a stop at the Manchester diner this month, Griffin asked Romney what he could do for her, a mother struggling to provide healthcare for children who all require medication.

Griffin asked Romney what his copayment was for his own health insurance, and there was a back and forth. The scene was captured on video by The Washington Post and then promoted on the Drudge Report.

This week she was invited to meet with Democratic presidential candidate Dennis J. Kucinich, who said he wanted to keep in touch after hearing her story. Griffin wouldn't say whether her job was threatened, but said "it wasn't a good situation".

"I am not the crazy woman The Washington Post made me out to be," she said, "but I shouldn't have asked the question while on the job."

JAMES W. PINDELL