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Friday, October 12, 2007

Thompson endorses Rudy

By Ken Herman | Friday, October 12, 2007, 01:55 PM

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who used to think he should be president, now thinks Rudy Giuliani should be president.

Thompson, an ex-secretary of health and human services in the current White House, will serve as a national co-chair of Giuliani’s bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

“Rudy Giuliani has shown that he is a true leader. He is America’s mayor and during a period of time of great stress for this country he showed tremendous leadership,” Thompson said in a Giuliani campaign release announcing the endorsement. “He can and will win the nomination and the presidency of the United States.”

Thompson shut down his own presidential race in August.

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Wartime president “happy” about Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize

By Ken Herman | Friday, October 12, 2007, 11:36 AM

How does a White House enmeshed in an ongoing war react to news that a former opponent has won a share of the Nobel Peace Prize?

Here’s how Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto handled it aboard Air Force One this morning:

Q: Tony, does the president have any reaction to Al Gore’s winning the Nobel Prize?

Fratto: Yes, the president learned about it this morning. Of course, he’s happy for Vice President Gore, happy for the International Panel on Climate Change scientists, who also shared the Peace Prize. Obviously it’s an important recognition and we’re sure the vice president is thrilled.

Q: Is he going to call him?

Fratto: I don’t know of any plans to make calls to any of the winners at this point.

More from Fratto: Well, obviously Vice President Gore has helped to bring attention to climate change. The IPCC scientists have done remarkable work to bring scientific rigor to the questions surrounding climate change. And obviously the next step for, and really the most difficult step is implementing climate change strategies that are effective and practical, and that allow for continued economic development and for countries to do the work that they need to do to lift people out of poverty.

And that’s a challenging task. That’s why the president brought together the major economies — the announcement he had prior to the G8 and then the summit meeting last week, I guess it was two weeks ago now, to discuss a strategy for climate change. And that’s the next step and that’s an important step.

Q: Given that his approach on climate is so different from Al Gore’s, does he feel that this award is in any way sending a message about his own policies?

Fratto: I’m not sure what … no, I don’t see it that way at all. No.

Q: Does he think, though, that the award will place pressure on him and on the Bush administration to do more quickly, and to maybe fall into line with what other countries want, which are mandatory caps on emissions?

Fratto: No.

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