JARRETT’S ROLE: A family friend and political confidant of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is stepping up her long-standing commitment to his presidential campaign. Valerie Jarrett, former chairwoman of the Chicago Transit Authority and now CEO of Chicago’s Habitat Co., said she is becoming more active in campaign strategy. “We are in the final stretch,” Jarrett said, “and everyone is stepping up to help in any way that we can.” Obama aides said Jarrett’s increased presence on the trail doesn’t indicate a campaign staffing change. Other advisers are spending more time with Obama’s campaign, among them his Senate chief of staff, Pete Rouse.
‘TOO MANY MOSQUES’: Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), an adviser to Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, is under fire for saying that “we have too many mosques in this country.” King said he was trying to make the point that not enough Muslim leaders cooperate with law enforcement. Islamic activists called on Giuliani to drop King from his campaign, but Giuliani said he would not.
DOBSON’S NON-CHOICE: Influential Christian broadcaster James Dobson says he won’t support Republican Fred Thompson because the White House hopeful is wrong on the issues social conservatives care about. In an e-mail to supporters, Dobson wrote: “Isn’t Thompson the candidate who is opposed to the constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors [campaign finance reform], won’t talk at all about what he believes and can’t speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?”
