Very cool.
DETROIT (AP) — Boxing legend Muhammad Ali endorsed Gov. Jennifer Granholm for re-election on Wednesday, citing her efforts to overturn Michigan's ban on embryonic stem cell research.
Ali has Parkinson's disease, a condition that stem cell research advocates say might be treated or cured through the technique.
"She wants talented researchers and businesses around the world — who are working on cures for devastating and gut-wrenching diseases right now — to relocate here ... but she's been hindered in her efforts to attract them because our laws are too restrictive," Ali and his wife, Lonnie, said in a statement released by the Granholm campaign.
Ali and Granholm were to have appeared together at a morning rally at a Detroit union hall, but his plane was grounded by stormy weather near his southwestern Michigan home.
But in a phone conversation with the Democratic governor carried live at the rally, Lonnie Ali said: "We believe in the governor and the agenda that she has for the state."