Giuliani tells questioner to leave his family alone

By James W. Pindell, Globe correspondent

DERRY, N.H. -- Rudy Giuliani told a woman at a town hall meeting today "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 kicked off two days of campaigning in New Hampshire, talking mostly about health care and the war against terrorism.

But the mood changed when Katherine Prudhomme-O'Brien, 36, of Derry asked him about well-publicized reports that some family members might not be supporting his campaign. His daughter, for example, posted in an Internet profile that she was supporting 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," Giuliani replied. "The best thing I can say is kind of leave my family alone, just like I'll leave your family alone."

Giuliani then went on to explain that he should be judged by the job he has done as mayor and not on his family life.

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