Romney says he will attend funeral of Utah Mormon leader

Author Toni Morrison said her endorsement has to do with Barack Obama's personal gifts, not his race. (associated press/file 2007)

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Mitt Romney, who rarely talks on the campaign trail about his Mormon faith, said yesterday that he plans to attend the funeral of Gordon B. Hinckley, the church president who died Sunday at age 97 in Salt Lake City.

Romney recalled that he met with Hinckley three or four times to discuss planning for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and once before Romney decided to run for president. Romney called Hinckley a leader who oversaw a remarkable period of church expansion.

"We will miss him as a family, respect him as a man of great character and courage, but particularly his humility and ability to touch the lives of each individual is something for which he will long be noted," Romney told reporters. He added that Hinckley's "effort to reach out across the world and to faraway lands and to build temples for our church is something which will also give him a legacy that will last many, many years, indeed. And we will miss his leadership."

Romney did not mention meeting with Hinckley to discuss his run for the presidency until a reporter asked him about it.

"Yes, I was in Salt Lake and had the chance to go by him and see him and told him that our family was going to be thinking about running for president," Romney said. "And he smiled and said, 'It would be a great experience if you won, and a great experience if you lost.' "

Romney's religion has been a sensitive issue in the campaign because many evangelical Christians, who are influential in Republican primaries, consider the faith heretical.

MICHAEL LEVENSON

Author backs Obama

WASHINGTON - The woman who labeled Bill Clinton as the "first black president" is backing Democrat Barack Obama to be the second.

Author Toni Morrison said her endorsement of the Illinois senator has little to do with Obama's race - he is the son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas - but rather his personal gifts.

Morrison, whose novels usually concentrate on the lives of black women, said she has admired Hillary Clinton for years because of her knowledge and mastery of politics, but then dismissed that experience in favor of Obama's vision.

"In addition to keen intelligence, integrity, and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates," Morrison wrote. "That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fund-raiser's bond revoked

CHICAGO - A judge revoked the $2 million bond yesterday for indicted businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who has raised thousands of dollars for Barack Obama and Illinois politicians.

US District Judge Amy J. St. Eve said she grew concerned after learning Rezko received $3.5 million from a company in Lebanon; he had claimed that he had no income. St. Eve said she feared Rezko could be a flight risk.

The real estate developer and fast-food magnate was arrested yesterday morning at his home in suburban Wilmette. Rezko has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, attempted extortion, and money laundering, and is scheduled to stand trial Feb. 25. He is accused of pressuring businesses seeking work before two state regulatory boards to make campaign contributions and payoffs.

Rezko had long been a fund-raiser for Governor Rod Blagojevich and for Obama, the presidential candidate and senator from Illinois. Neither Democrat has been accused of wrongdoing in the case.

Obama has said he had no indication of problems with Rezko when he accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. When prosecutors unsealed their charges against Rezko in 2006, Obama gave $11,500 in Rezko contributions to charities.

Obama has since sought to distance himself from Rezko, even as his main Democratic rival - Senator Hillary Clinton - invoked Rezko's name and his "slum lord business" during a recent debate.

The Obama campaign declined to comment on Rezko's arrest.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Conn. governor for McCain

HARTFORD, Conn. - John McCain has won the endorsement of popular Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell for the Republican presidential nomination.

Rell said McCain is a longtime friend who would be the most effective leader to grapple with national security, the economy, energy, the environment, and trade policy. Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats in the Senate, also has endorsed McCain.

ASSOCIATED PRESS