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MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – About a dozen senior campaign staffers for Rudy Giuliani are forgoing their January paychecks, a sign of possible money trouble for the Republican presidential candidate and last year’s national front-runner.
“We didn’t ask anybody to do it,” Giuliani told reporters Friday after a town hall meeting at a charter school in Coral Springs, Fla.
At the end of December, the campaign had $12.7 million cash on hand, $7 million of which could be used for the primary, said Mike DuHaime, Giuliani’s campaign manager and one of those who now is working for free. He disputed the notion of a cash-strapped operation and said Giuliani continues to bring in money.
Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday called for Congress to pass an economic stimulus package that could cost as much as $110 billion to help low-income families keep their homes, to subsidize heating costs this winter and perhaps refund some taxes.
The Democratic presidential hopeful – on a two-day swing through California, a key Feb. 5 primary state – called on Congress to work with the White House to pass a $70 billion “immediate jump-start” to help people spend more money in the market and perhaps follow with $40 billion more in tax refunds.
The proposal, Clinton’s campaign said, would provide 37 million Americans with energy assistance. Hundreds of thousands more would get help to avoid foreclosure.
Despite embracing Michigan as the heart of his bid to revive his campaign, Republican Mitt Romney was greeted by an anemic crowd Friday as he began his final push for votes in the crucial primary.
No more than 150 people were on hand in Warren, Mich., for his appearance at Macomb Community College’s Center for Alternative Fuels, in a space set up for an audience twice that size. Romney delivered an unusually short, 13-minute address, taking no questions from his audience.
Later, in Lansing, the audience was crowded into a conference room at the Small Business Association of Michigan. Romney spoke 20 minutes and took two questions.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to talk about the economy. A voter in the audience in City of Commerce, Calif., wanted to talk marriage.
After wrapping up a speech outlining her economic stimulus proposal, the New York senator took questions from the crowd. The first question from one man was: “Hillary, marry me, baby.”
The packed union hall loved it and applauded.
“That is certainly the kindest offer I’ve had in a while,” she said to laughter. She quickly added, “I’d probably be arrested.”
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president on Friday, citing his message of hope in supporting his candidacy over Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.
The endorsement is a major gain for Obama. Napolitano, one of several female governors, is the most prominent Democrat in Arizona. Her endorsement could be significant in a state now regarded as winnable by a Democrat after decades as a near-lock for Republicans; the state holds its primary Feb. 5.
