The Morning Read: Monday, July 23, 2007

“There's not going to be a foolish, gotcha question,” in tonight’s CNN/YouTube debate with Democratic presidential candidates, said a CNN official.

Rudy Giuliani’s history on race relations gets the front page treatment from Michael Powell.

Michael Bloomberg is traveling to Missouri shortly before some presidential candidates arrive there.

The other Michael Bloomberg donated $10 to Christine Quinn.

Republicans in the state Senate are trying to subpoena information about $5 million Eliot Spitzer received during his 1998 campaign.

A schedule of Hillary Clinton fund-raisers in the Hamptons is here.

An aide to Mitt Romney quit the campaign over allegations he used a fake police badge.

City comptroller candidates are raising tons of money.

Charlie Rangel is founding a school of politics, named after himself.

Democrats in the state Senate say that Malcolm Smith should have gotten more concessions out of the congestion pricing deal.

Charles Barron said he’ll take care of black residents in Brooklyn once he’s the borough president.

The aging population upstate needs doctors.

A report from an advocacy group being released today says the city Administration for Children’s Services is performing worse now than it did in 2000.

Four days after the explosion in Midtown, Con Ed is still working on clean-up plans.

The New Republic wonders what kind of trouble Hillary Clinton’s brother will raise [subscription].

The Times editorial board wants to re-evaluate the state comptroller’s role as the sole trustee for the state’s pensions.

Harry Siegel writes a column saying that Spitzer is “transforming Albany from dysfunctional and dull to dysfunctional and a lot of fun to watch.”

A New York Sun columnist says that Spitzer gave the Republican majority in the state Senate “exactly what it needs to curry favor in marginal districts: unrestricted pork spending.”

And meet a few more members of the Bancroft family who aren’t actually named Bancroft.