Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani released his latest slate of New Hampshire supporters last week. One problem: Not all of them back the former New York City mayor.
Alongside a former state GOP chairman, a congressman and an executive councilor who do support Giuliani, a handful of people made the list of 125 supporters despite their objections.
Some are openly criticizing their mistaken inclusion. Others, who did not want to be quoted or to embarrass the Giuliani campaign, have since decided to join it.
'A little sloppiness'
Wendy Stanley Jones, named a state co-chair for Women for Giuliani, said she was considering Giuliani, but also was weighing staying out of the race because of a busy personal schedule.
In New Hampshire, "we take our endorsements very seriously," she said. "I wasn't ready to endorse. I'm not sure I will be endorsing. I'd like to think this is because of a little sloppiness."
Mike Galante said a friend told him he had been named as the Carroll County small business chairman, although he never agreed to the post.
"I'd been traveling and there were messages on my machine. I hadn't returned them," Galante said.
He said he is likely to support Giuliani, but wanted a chance to check out other candidates before deciding. To make things worse, his name was misspelled on the list released Thursday, the day after rival Sen. John McCain formally entered the race in New Hampshire.
"We have county chairmen in each of the counties," campaign political director Mark Campbell told New Hampshire reporters on a conference call announcing the roster. "We have great leadership in each of the counties."
Not exactly. The Giuliani campaign said on Monday the list's errors were simple confusion.
"This is a regrettable oversight on our part," said campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella. "We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
