Dobson Won't Back Giuliani

Questions on his abortion views dog Rudolph W. Giuliani. (Alice Keeney - AP)

James Dobson, the prominent Christian conservative who leads Focus on the Family, said yesterday that he could not vote for former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

Writing in an online column, Dobson said "my conscience and my moral convictions" convinced him that he cannot support Giuliani, whom he described as an "unapologetic" supporter of abortion rights.

"Many liberal Americans will agree with the social positions espoused by Giuliani. However, I don't believe conservative voters whose support he seeks will be impressed," Dobson wrote on the conservative news site WorldNetDaily. "I will either cast my ballot for an also-ran -- or if worse comes to worst -- not vote in a presidential election for the first time in my adult life."

Dobson wrote that he was also troubled by Giuliani's marital history. Giuliani has been married three times.

The remarks came after Giuliani sought, in a debate and appearance in Houston, to put to rest controversy about where he stands on abortion by saying he personally opposes abortion but believes it is a woman's right to have one, a position that puts him at odds with many conservatives in the Republican Party.

Dobson said earlier this year that he would not support Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) because McCain has opposed a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage.

-- Zachary A. Goldfarb

Candidates Take Stock of Portfolios

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Giuliani raised the specter of genocide in Darfur earlier this year at a fundraiser, telling guests that U.S. intervention could prove "we can do positive things and good things."

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards told an Iowa audience in January that U.S. action in Sudan was a way to take the lead on moral issues that may not necessarily be grounded in economic or political self-interest.

Both candidates' personal financial disclosures, however, reveal that they are invested in mutual funds that hold stock in companies doing business in Sudan. Giuliani's holdings in these firms total at least $500,000, while Edwards has at least $47,000 similarly invested.