John Sununu

The Mitt Romney bandwagon is getting crowded in New Hampshire, and a top Republican here says it's a credit to the GOP front-runner's deliberate approach in the state. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu became the latest boldfaced name to endorse Romney, an announcement that came on the front page of the Sunday Union Leader. Sununu will join Romney on Monday when he files his paperwork with the secretary of state's office to become an official candidate in the New Hampshire primary.

Mitt Romney opened the last full day of campaigning in South Carolina's high-stakes presidential primary Friday morning by dispatching allies to assail Newt Gingrich as a big-spending egomaniac, but faced new questions over his own refusal to release his tax returns unless he wins the GOP nomination. Former Gov. John Sununu of New Hampshire, a favorite Romney attack dog, picked up on Rick Santorum's criticism of the former House speaker's "grandiosity" in a drama-filled debate on Thursday.

What would Harry Truman have done about John Sununu? ALICE R. BRILL, Sylmar

Mitt Romney and his campaign surrogates hammered dual themes of trust and integrity in New Hampshire Saturday, with some of his key backers urging voters to contrast Romney's life with that of other GOP contenders - implicitly contrasting the straight-laced candidate with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been married three times and faced a reprimand from the House Ethics Committee in the mid-1990s. Introducing Romney at a breakfast at the The Old Salt in Hampton before the candidate jetted back to Iowa to campaign, former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu told hundreds of New Hampshire voters to carefully consider their choice.  “There are a lot of good people running for president - some of them are my friends, a couple of them are not,” said Sununu, who has served as one of the Romney's campaign's key attackers as the campaign has tried to halt Gingrich's rise in the polls in recent weeks.

President Bush lashes Congress as "privileged." Who do they think they are? John Sununu? EMIL LAWTON Sherman Oaks

Why doesn't President Bush just make John Sununu secretary of transportation and end the controversy? CHARLES SUPPLE, Seal Beach

John Sununu was correct (Column Right, July 1). Perot is a quitter. So in the future we would be well advised to follow the analysis of Sununu. I wonder if he would do a quick background check on Clinton too? I'm too nervous to ask him about Dan Quayle. NORMA NOVELLI Studio City

John Sununu is so confused about even the concept of conflicts of interest as to personally solicit the use of a corporate jet for political travel on a trip to Chicago (June 22). Moreover, he evidently still doesn't understand the special traveling restrictions that the White House counsel prepared to fit his needs. He also seemed unable to report correctly the actual donor of the plane he used. In light of this, can President Bush safely accept the advice Sununu may give him as chief of staff?

What is with our Republican Presidents? It is a known fact that their chiefs of staff, such as Donald Regan for former President Reagan and now John Sununu for President Bush, are empowered to run our country as if they were elected President. We know President Reagan was senile and could not remember or comprehend our nation's governing, but were we better off? We know President Bush is very engulfed in the Persian Gulf crisis. But is he not capable of at least supervising and controlling the actions of John Sununu?

In response to "We Need a President in the White House, Not a Pollster," by John Sununu, Column Right, July 1: Far be it for me to come to the defense of Ross Perot. I agree that he is a spoiled opportunist who lacks substantive ideas for dealing with the nation's problems. But if Sununu had substituted the name George Bush for that of Ross Perot in his article, my head would also have been nodding in agreement. Bush has yet to demonstrate the "leadership," which consists of "standing firm on principle and leading a nation forward through commitment."

The Mitt Romney bandwagon is getting crowded in New Hampshire, and a top Republican here says it's a credit to the GOP front-runner's deliberate approach in the state. Former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu became the latest boldfaced name to endorse Romney, an announcement that came on the front page of the Sunday Union Leader. Sununu will join Romney on Monday when he files his paperwork with the secretary of state's office to become an official candidate in the New Hampshire primary.

In a primary election that could help determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, Republicans here must choose Tuesday between two candidates so philosophically alike that their hard-fought race has come down to quibbling over which man is more of a Washington insider. As Sen. Bob Smith battles Rep. John E.

In his article "Getting Even" (Opinion, Nov. 29) John Podhoretz got it all wrong. If any group of people were becoming "imperialist" government bureaucrats, it was the Republicans. John Sununu is a prime example, among others, who used high office to further their own ends as well as those of friends. The 12 years of Republican rule is rife with these examples. Republicans talk about "less government," but only insofar as it doesn't impede their ambitions. School vouchers are a good example.

John Sununu was correct (Column Right, July 1). Perot is a quitter. So in the future we would be well advised to follow the analysis of Sununu. I wonder if he would do a quick background check on Clinton too? I'm too nervous to ask him about Dan Quayle. NORMA NOVELLI Studio City

In response to "We Need a President in the White House, Not a Pollster," by John Sununu, Column Right, July 1: Far be it for me to come to the defense of Ross Perot. I agree that he is a spoiled opportunist who lacks substantive ideas for dealing with the nation's problems. But if Sununu had substituted the name George Bush for that of Ross Perot in his article, my head would also have been nodding in agreement. Bush has yet to demonstrate the "leadership," which consists of "standing firm on principle and leading a nation forward through commitment."

As Ross Perot prepares to announce his candidacy for the presidency, it's worth asking who this man is, what makes him tick and how he leveraged himself into the national spotlight. The transformation of Ross Perot, tycoon, into Boss Perot, would-be President and trouble-shooter, seems as improbable as the transformation in Jerzy Kozinski's "Being There" of Chance the Gardener into Chauncey Gardener.

Re "O.C. Laws Can't Block Gifts to Supervisors by Powerful PACS" (May 5) by Jim Newton and Mark Landsbaum: Don Roth is quoted as saying, "If it's legal, then I have no problem with it." And, "I'm not troubled provided that it's within the law." These words seem all too common today. President Bush said something similar when questioned about the taxpayer-paid jaunts around the country by his chief of staff, John Sununu: "He has broken no law." How can one say that just because a contribution from a PAC is "legal," or a taxpayer-paid trip is "legal," that either or both may not well be a conflict of interest and/or unethical?

In his article "Getting Even" (Opinion, Nov. 29) John Podhoretz got it all wrong. If any group of people were becoming "imperialist" government bureaucrats, it was the Republicans. John Sununu is a prime example, among others, who used high office to further their own ends as well as those of friends. The 12 years of Republican rule is rife with these examples. Republicans talk about "less government," but only insofar as it doesn't impede their ambitions. School vouchers are a good example.

Sitting in what "Crossfire" sidekick Michael Kinsley has dubbed the "Pat Buchanan memorial chair" has given John Sununu new faith in the humorous side of fate. "I'm a strong supporter of George Bush, obviously," said Sununu, the former White House chief of staff. "To be here, commenting on Pat Buchanan's candidacy, is one of the pleasant ironies of life."

When the owner of a baseball team fires the manager, the pennant is usually already lost. The thinly veiled dismissal of John Sununu as White House chief of staff likewise suggests continued trouble ahead for the Bush Administration. Bush is moving into difficult political weather, and the departure of Sununu will not make life easier for him.