GIULIANI SHAKE-UP: Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani’s top finance official is out in a staff shake-up just days before the fundraising deadline for the White House hopefuls. Anne Dunsmore, deputy campaign manager for finance, has left the operation. Giuliani aides said the departure was unrelated to fundraising. The third-quarter deadline for all campaigns, Republican and Democrat, is Sunday. Also Wednesday, Giuliani met privately in New York with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and indicated he would keep a U.S. presence in Iraq for as long as necessary, campaign aides said.
GOP DEBATE: Some Republican presidential hopefuls — but not the leading contenders — will meet Thursday night in Baltimore for the All-American Presidential Forum. The debate at historically black Morgan State University, to be moderated by black talk-show host Tavis Smiley, will be televised from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. CDT on PBS. GOP candidates Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson will not appear, bringing criticism of the hopefuls from President Bush, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Rep. J.C. Watts for skipping the event.
