By JOAN LOWY
The Associated Press
Monday, February 12, 2007; 10:37 PM
WASHINGTON -- Republican Mitt Romney's choice of a museum honoring auto pioneer Henry Ford as the site of his presidential announcement was strongly criticized Monday by Jewish Democrats, who noted Ford's history of anti-Semitism.
The former Massachusetts governor, who is scheduled to formally launch his presidential candidacy from the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., on Tuesday, was taken to task by The National Jewish Democratic Council.
The council "is deeply troubled by Governor Romney's choice of locations to announce his presidential campaign," executive director Ira Forman said in a statement.
"Romney has been traveling the country talking about inclusiveness and understanding of people from all walks of life," Forman said. "Yet he chooses to kick (off) his presidential campaign on the former estate of a well-known and outspoken anti-Semite and xenophobe."
Forman said Romney's "embrace of Henry Ford and association of Ford's legacy with his presidential campaign raises serious questions about either the sincerity of Romney's words or his understanding of basic American history."
Ford was bestowed with the Grand Service Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle by Adolf Hitler.
Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Romney, said the candidate will go ahead with his announcement as planned.
"Governor Romney believes our country needs to put innovation at the forefront if we are to ensure a stronger, safer and more prosperous America," Fehrnstrom said. "The Ford Museum embodies that bold, innovative spirit."
Fehrnstrom noted that other political leaders have praised Ford in the past. He cited a 1999 speech on small business development in which former President Clinton quoted Ford and praised the "power of enterprise and the strength of the human spirit" of American entrepreneurs.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Democratic presidential candidate Tom Vilsack will seek to cancel out his campaign's contribution to global warming through investments in "clean" energy.
The campaign will monitor its so-called carbon footprint _ the carbon dioxide created by his travels, energy use at his offices and other activities, said communications director Josh Earnest. Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising earth temperatures.
To offset that carbon dioxide production, the campaign will pay a Vermont company, Native Energy, that invests in renewable fuels such as wind power, Earnest said. The campaign will also invite donors to contribute specifically to offset those costs.
Vilsack planned to announce the initiative during a speech on energy policy in San Francisco on Tuesday. "He will pledge to make his presidential campaign the first presidential campaign in history to be carbon-neutral," Earnest said.
"No question that this is one of the, if not the most important issue in this presidential campaign," Earnest said. "It affects national security, the economy, even the health care system."
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ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Key New York political leaders indicated Monday that they favor moving the state's presidential primary up a month to Feb. 5 _ a shift that could help the 2008 campaigns of Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani.
It "would be the right thing for the state," an aide to the Legislature's top Democrat said.
A top aide to the Legislature's most powerful Republican said making such a shift was also on the GOP's radar screen.
Several other big states, including California, are already considering shifting their primaries to Feb. 5. Such a move could create a new Super Tuesday showdown just days after the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary and the follow-up South Carolina primary.
"The speaker is favorably inclined to move the date. He thinks it would be the right thing for the state and will be speaking to the governor about doing it," said Charles Carrier, a spokesman for state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat and key backer of Clinton's bid for the 2008 Democratic nomination.
New Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer had no immediate comment Monday about the plan, first reported in Monday's editions of the New York Post.
"It's something we're taking a look at," said John McArdle, a spokesman for Joseph Bruno, the state Senate's Republican majority leader. Bruno has close ties to both Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, and to Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican who polls show is Giuliani's main competition for the GOP presidential nomination.
In Alabama, Republicans and Democrats are trying to move up the date of the state's presidential primary from Feb. 5 to Feb. 2, 2008, which would avoid a conflict with a Mardi Gras holiday. Party leaders said Monday they are working on legislation to move the primary.
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ Former South Carolina first lady Iris Campbell and one of her two sons have signed onto Republican Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign.
Iris Campbell was widowed in 2005 when former Gov. Carroll Campbell died after a public battle with Alzheimer's disease. The former governor, who served two terms from 1987 to 1995, is credited with making the Republican Party a powerful force in South Carolina, and Iris Campbell remains influential throughout the state.
"I think that if Carroll were here, he'd do the same," Iris Campbell said.
Her son, Mike Campbell, who ran unsuccessfully last year for lieutenant governor's office, was tapped to run the former Arkansas governor's South Carolina campaign as a senior national adviser.
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Associated Press Writers Bob Lewis in Richmond, Va., Marc Humbert in Albany, N.Y., Jim Davenport in Columbia, S.C., Phillip Rawls in Montgomery, Ala., and Scott Lindlaw in San Francisco contributed to this report.