Former U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Curran speaks at yesterday’s news conference at the Federal Reserve restaurant, in Providence, where she endorsed the reelection of U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee.

The Providence Journal / Frieda Squires

Former U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Curran, a longtime Democrat who worked for Sheldon Whitehouse, endorsed Republican U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee yesterday in his difficult reelection campaign against her onetime boss.

But Curran, who oversaw the indictment and corruption conviction of longtime Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, declined to criticize Whitehouse, her predecessor, for being lax on corruption.

On Tuesday, Chafee blasted Whitehouse for being soft on corruption and reluctant to pursue Cianci, citing FBI informant Antonio R. Freitas’ mistrust of Whitehouse. The senator also held up a blown-up newspaper photo of Cianci and Whitehouse taken at a public event in 2002, two days after the mayor’s corruption conviction, as Whitehouse campaigned for governor.

“I have nothing bad to say about Sheldon Whitehouse . . . nothing juicy,” she told persistent reporters during a news conference with Chafee at the Federal Reserve restaurant.

Curran noted that she has a photograph of herself with Cianci, taken in the early 1990s when she served on the board of the Rhode Island Zoological Society.

Curran said that she endorses Chafee because Rhode Island has been well served by his independent voice in Washington.

Nominated as U.S. Attorney by Democratic Sen. Jack Reed in 1998, Curran praised Chafee’s support in 2001, after President Bush took office, as critical in her being one of only 12 of 93 U.S. Attorneys kept on from the Democratic administration of Bill Clinton. Her office was amid Operation Plunder Dome, the corruption case against Cianci, and continuity was important.

Rhode Islanders shouldn’t “waste” their vote, said Curran, by casting it against Chafee because they are angry with President Bush and want to regain Democratic control of the U.S. Senate. For that to happen, Democrats need to gain six seats.

“If every Rhode Islander does decide to vote against Senator Chafee for that reason, then I’ll have my fingers and toes crossed that the rest of the country follows step,” said Curran. “They frequently do not do so with the Northeast, and I’d be surprised if they did [this year].”

Despite the harsh tone of the recent debates between Chafee and Whitehouse, the two men began their day yesterday at a breakfast forum in Lincoln that was so cordial that several audience members commented on it.

Sponsored by the Northern Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, the 30-minute exchange at Kirkbrae Country Club centered on core issues such as health care and education.

There was no mention of Cianci, or the FBI’s Operation Plunder Dome.

The debate took a lighthearted turn before it even started, when the two candidates got down on their hands and knees beneath a table in search of the coin that was to determine their speaking order and was lost in the process.

Responding to pre-submitted audience questions about the state of public education in Rhode Island, Whitehouse said the federal government must restructure the No Child Left Behind Act so as not to strip schools of academic and arts programs in favor of "teaching to the tests." The state’s middle schools, especially those in urban areas, are also in need of reform, Whitehouse said, adding that Rhode Island has an opportunity to lead the national tide in that area of education.

For Chafee, it is the rising cost of special education that he said poses the biggest challenge. The federal government has not done enough to fund special-education programs in local communities, placing the burden on taxpayers, the senator said. He cited his work fighting for those federal reimbursements and said he will continue to seek out special-education funding in the coming years.

In all, the candidates answered just six brief questions. But those who watched them over plates of bacon and eggs said it was refreshing to see a reprieve from their recent assaults.

“They talked about the issues and didn’t talk about each other so much. Actually, you could tell there was a lot of mutual respect. It was focused where it should be, focused on the issues,” said Tony Deller, 49, an accountant from North Smithfield who attended the breakfast.

Following the debate, Whitehouse said he too was pleased to get back to those core issues. “I think that Senator Chafee was right back in his first race when he said negative campaigning is a disservice to voters. So I think that to be involved in talking about the issues that people care about is the right place to be,” Whitehouse said.

But Chafee took a different view of the recent face-offs. “I don’t consider looking at someone’s record as negative, I consider that as legitimate campaigning activity,” the senator said. “If the facts are there such as I am pointing out on Plunder Dome and Roger Williams Hospital, then that’s what I think the voters want to hear. I’m not doing my job as a candidate if I’m not looking at critical shortcomings in my opponent’s record.”