'Better at the game' (Clinton eulogizes Queens Dem Party Boss)

[DoYouEverWonder]

July 29, 2006

Thomas Manton was eulogized Friday as a father, patriot, adviser and mediator, but was remembered mostly as a political boss who perfected his craft while running the Queens Democratic party for the past two decades.

"He played the game we love better than anybody else because he was better at the game," former President Bill Clinton said at the funeral Mass for Manton, 73, who died last Saturday of prostate cancer.

In an age when politics is played with big money, high-priced consultants and massive budgets for television ads, Manton was remembered as one of the few local bosses who still managed to wield clout nationally.

Clinton recalled that in December 1991, when he was a Democratic candidate for president and running fifth or sixth in public opinion polls, Manton invited him to come to Queens and talk to party members.

"He knew I was a stranger in a strange land and he was very kind to me, and I will never forget that," Clinton told a hushed audience of more than 500 people in St. Sebastian Church in Woodside.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyfune294833498jul29,0,7028603.story?coll=ny-nynews-print


My mom went to HS with Manton and I went to HS with his daughter. They were very nice folks.