Ex-Mass. treasurer Malone throws a kiss to Giuliani
Former Massachusetts state treasurer Joseph D. Malone will endorse Rudy Giuliani's presidential campaign this morning in Boston. That's a coup of sorts for the former New York City mayor because several of the chief operatives for the campaign of Republican rival Mitt Romney worked in the treasury under Malone and on his campaigns for treasurer and governor.
"Ultimately it boils down to choosing a person that I think will be the best president of the United States, and Rudy Giuliani is head and shoulders over the field on either the Democratic or Republican side," Malone, who lives in Scituate and is a real estate investor and part-time marketing consultant, said yesterday.
Among the Malone veterans in key posts supporting Romney are campaign manager Beth Myers, traveling press secretary Eric Fehrnstrom, and fund-raiser Steve Roche.
Bay State Republicans backing Giuliani also include former governor Paul Cellucci, whom Malone unsuccessfully challenged for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 1998, state Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei and State Senators Michael R. Knapik and Bruce E. Tarr, former Senate leader Brian P. Lees, and former state GOP chairman Brian Cresta.
BRIAN C. MOONEY
Silence on right to die
TAMPA - Republican Fred Thompson sidestepped a question last month about the Terri Schiavo right-to-die case, saying he didn't remember the details. Yesterday, he said he's uncomfortable discussing it because of his own daughter's death.
Thompson's daughter, Elizabeth Thompson Panici, 38, died in 2002 of an accidental drug overdose, according to the Nashville medical examiner's office. She had been diagnosed as suffering from a bipolar disorder.
Thompson's remarks indicated his daughter had been on life support, although his campaign declined to provide further information, saying the matter was too personal. Panici died on Jan. 30, 2002, six days after being brought unconscious to a hospital emergency room. At the time, Thompson, then a US senator, released a statement saying she died of "severe brain injury resulting from cardiac arrest."
"I will assure you one thing: No matter which decision you make, you will never know whether or not you made exactly the right decision," Thompson said. "So making this into a political football is something that I don't welcome. And this will probably be the last time I ever address it."
He added: "It should be decided by families. The federal government and the state government, too - except for the court system - ought to stay out of it, as far as I'm concerned." (AP)
Obama ad: unconventional
As part of a three-day swing through New Hampshire, Barack Obama started a new TV ad yesterday in the Granite State, this one showing him issuing a challenge to "conventional thinking."
The 30-second spot is the latest in a series of unadorned ads featuring Obama talking soberly about his vision for the country.
"When we break out of the conventional thinking and we start reaching out to friend and foe alike, then I am absolutely confident that we can restore America's leadership in the world," he says. "We're going to lead with our values and our ideals by deed and by example. I want to go before the world and say America's back."
Obama has been spending heavily on TV ads in Iowa and New Hampshire, even running some in the expensive Boston media market.
SCOTT HELMAN
The talk on Richardson
Bill Richardson has not been universally praised over the years for his freelance diplomacy.
But in a new ad that began airing today in Iowa and New Hampshire, there's nothing but praise from two American contractors who were arrested as alleged spies and held captive in Iraq in 1995 - until Richardson came to Baghdad to negotiate with Saddam Hussein for their release. In at times tearful testimonials, they say that Richardson had the courage and care to venture where others didn't dare.
"Here's this big guy - he is a pretty big guy - and he's got a heart as big as he is," said Bill Barloon, who along with David Daliberti accidentally drove into Iraq from Kuwait.
Richardson, the New Mexico governor, served as the US ambassador to the United Nations, but he's better known for his diplomatic efforts as a congressman. Richardson also negotiated the release of hostages and US military servicemembers in Cuba, North Korea, and the Sudan.
In trying to break into the top tier of Democratic presidential hopefuls, Richardson has been arguing that his negotiating successes show that he is tough and smart enough to face down the world's most ruthless dictators.
FOON RHEE
