Oh-eight (R): Campaign lobbyists
Posted: Monday, June 25, 2007 9:16 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under:
Republicans
GIULIANI: In an interview with WNBC-TV, ex-EPA dir.
Christie Whitman says Giuliani "blocked her efforts to force World Trade Center workers to wear respirators." She also said city officials didn't want EPA workers wearing haz-mat suits because they "didn't want this image of a city falling apart." Whitman will be testifying on the Hill today about the ground zero air quality issue. Whitman also criticized Giuliani's handling of a suspected anthrax attack at NBC's Rockefeller Center headquarters weeks after 9/11. "There was concern by the city that EPA workers not be seen in the haz-mat suits," she said. "They didn't want this image of a city falling apart. I said, 'Well, that's not acceptable.'" Giuliani's former Deputy Mayor Joe Lhota rejected Whitman's claims. "As the incident commander, F.D.N.Y.’s response was exemplary. They coordinated, conducted and affected a multi-agency response in a timely, safe and efficient fashion," Lhota said.
As some predicted, the New York City tabs are not going to be able to get enough of Bloomberg v. Giuliani. The New York Post decided to survey senior city workers who worked with both mayors to get their take on which "Hizzoner" is ready to be POTUS. "Bloomberg's laid-back leadership style received glowing reviews, but most said they'd vote for him only if there were no other choice but Giuliani."
Per Newsday, Giuliani will stand by his longtime friend Alan Placa, a Catholic priest accused of molesting students, "despite a new call by an advocacy group for priest-abuse victims to fire the suspended priest from his consulting firm, a Giuliani aide said Friday. The GOP presidential front-runner was urged to ax Placa by David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, after Salon Web-magazine ran a story Friday about the 5-year-old allegations of molesting students against Placa and his job at Giuliani Partners. But Giuliani will not fire Placa, who is also an attorney, from his consulting job, said Giuliani Partners spokeswoman Sunny Mindel. "The mayor believes Alan Placa has been unjustly accused," she said.
Speaking of the Catholic Church, the New York Times looks at the troubles Giuliani might face from politically active Catholic bishops who aren't fond of Catholic politicians who say they are personally opposed to abortion but don't favor making the procedure illegal. Also buried in the piece is the fact that Giuliani doesn't take communion, possibly because he didn't get his second marriage annulled.
MCCAIN: Veteran political reporter Tom Edsall reports on Huffington Post that McCain has more registered lobbyists on staff than any other presidential campaign. The two lobbyists Edsall singles out are chief finance staffer Tom Loeffler and ex-Sen.-turned-lobbyist Slade Gorton. All told, "there are 11 current or former lobbyists working" for McCain. Romney is second in total number of lobbyists on staff, followed by Giuliani. On the Democratic side, of the top three candidates, Obama is the only one who can claim he has no lobbyists on staff. Edwards has a couple of current or former lobbyists on staff, while Clinton has the most of the Democrats (falling short of McCain's 11 though).
ROMNEY:
Today is
Part Two of the Boston Globe’s series on Romney, “The Making of Mitt Romney: The Missionary.” Today’s piece chronicles Romney’s time as a Mormon missionary in France. And here’s
Part One from Sunday, which detailed his relationship with his father.
The Globe also looked at the Vietnam deferrals the Mormon church obtained for Romney and other missionaries. "Before and after his missionary deferment, Romney also received nearly three years of deferments for his academic studies. When his deferments ended and he became eligible for military service in 1970, he drew a high number in the annual lottery that determined which young men were drafted. His high number ensured he was not drafted into the military. The deferments for Mormon missionaries became increasingly controversial in the late 1960s, especially in Utah, leading the Mormon Church and the government to limit the number of church missionaries who could put off their military service. That agreement called for each church ward, or church district, to designate one male every six months to be exempted from potential duty for the duration of his missionary work."
The Washington Post’s Dan Balz examines the fact that Romney is in a stronger position in the early states than he is nationally. "Romney's rise is an instructive story of seizing opportunities, maximizing small advantages, attention to detail and a few lucky breaks. The challenge his advisers faced at the beginning of the year was to prove that he belonged in the same conversation with McCain and Giuliani. Now he has done that, long before demonstrating any significant national support."
The Boston Herald interviews folks who worked with Romney's now-suspended rent-a-cop Jay Garrity during his days on Beacon Hill. “‘He thinks he’s a cop,’ sniffed one longtime insider. ‘That was always the persona.’ A Democrat said: ‘He wasn’t well-liked by those across the aisle. He was a little pompous. You could see that the pretense of power was going to his head.’ A Republican lawmaker added: ‘He looks and acts like Secret Service.’” By the way, Garrity apparently had a suspended license up until this weekend. and
Romney is now speaking out on the attacks on his religion. During a weekend fundraising trip to Utah, Romney said criticism of his Mormon religion by rival campaigns is happening too frequently. “‘Clearly, any derogatory comments about anyone's faith -- those comments are troubling. The fact they keep on coming up is even more troubling’ Romney said on Saturday.”
F. THOMPSON: Despite some news to the contrary, Thompson will not be announcing his candidacy on Tuesday. If he makes any news tomorrow, it will be about where his campaign will be headquartered.
