Governor Bill Richardson to Endorse Obama

OBAMA GAINS ANOTHER SUPERDELEGATE

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation’s only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president, calling him a “once-in-a- lifetime leader”. Richardson, a superdelegate, is scheduled to make a formal announcement alongside Obama at a campaign event in Portland.

‘Once-in-a-lifetime leader’

“I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America’s moral leadership in the world,” Richardson said. “As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama’s unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation,” Richardson said.

Richardson is a two-term governor, eight-term congressman, and former 2008 presidential candidate. He served as ambassador to the United Nations and as secretary of the Energy Department during the Clinton administration. Richardson is still close friends with the Clinton’s and watched the Super Bowl with Bill at the New Mexico governor’s mansion earlier this year.

  • (As I have said before, what does it say that some of the people who know the Clinton’s the best, are publicly endorsing Obama?)

‘The judgment we need’

Richardson went on to say, “There is no doubt in my mind that Barack Obama has the judgment and courage we need in a commander in chief when our nation’s security is on the line.”

Richardson described Hillary Clinton as “a distinguished leader” but said Obama “will be a historic and great president, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad.”

Obama said he was “deeply honored” to have Richardson’s support and said: `Whether it’s fighting to end the Iraq war or stop the genocide in Darfur or prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists, Gov. Richardson has been a powerful voice on issues of global security, peace and justice, earning five Nobel Peace Prize nominations.”

Bill Richardson joins this growing list of endorsements for Barack Obama.

 

SOURCE: Bill Richardson to Endorse Obama’s Presidential Bid, New Mexico’s Richardson endorses Obama, Richardson Endorses Obama

Published in: on March 21, 2008 at 9:48 am Comments (0)
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Latino Superdelegate Slams Hillary Clinton

Did Hillary just give more reasons for Hispanic voters to say “Sí, Se Puede!” to team Obama?

It appears that yesterday’s big move by the Clinton campaign - replacing former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle with current campaign manager Maggie Williams has alienated a leader within the DNC’s Hispanic community - Superdelegate Steven Ybarra, a California superdelegate who heads the voting-rights committee of the DNC Hispanic Caucus.

The e-mail noted that Clinton, who is looking to Latino voters for a boost in the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, scored heavily with Hispanics in her California win.

“Apparently, loyalty is not a two-way street,” he wrote. “Latino superdelegates like myself . . . will have cause to pause.”

Ybarra told The Post yesterday that the loss of Solis Doyle, a child of Mexican immigrants, just weeks before the Texas primary, where 36 percent of the population is Hispanic, was “dumb as a stump.” Of course, Ybarra probably doesn’t know that Hillary still intends to bring Solis Doyle along as an adviser (i.e. Clinton-friendly Hispanic face/voice).

Read article here: Super Latino Slams Clinton

  • Steven Ybarra is a retired civil rights attorney who operates a consultant company in California. He is a member of the Democratic National Committee and a long time political activist. SOURCE.
  • Then again… according to Hillary, he wouldn’t know what his people want anyway. As she said yesterday in Maryland, “activists don’t represent the electorate. We know that”.
Published in: on February 12, 2008 at 5:36 pm Comments (5)
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Hillary’s New Campaign Manager has Old Controversies

NEW CAMPAIGN MANAGER, OLD CONTROVERSIES

At this critical juncture, why Hillary Clinton would bring on someone with such a controversial past as Maggie Williams baffles me a bit. Williams had served as the First Lady’s Chief-of-Staff during Bill Clinton’s first term in office but left amid a flurry of controversy.

So… why her, now? My theories:

  1. Hillary needed to make a scapegoat out of former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, and the timing to replace her with someone else was too short. Using Maggie makes it appear as though it was the plan all along.
  2. Maggie Williams is African-American. Just as Solis Doyle appealed to Hispanic voters in Latina and Latina Style magazines highlighting her status as Clinton’s campaign manager, perhaps now Maggie can recoup some of the African-American voters lost in the recent months.
  3. Desperate times call for desperate measures. New plan of action to come from Hillary camp?

In any case, a bit on Ms. Maggie Williams from NPR News Blog:

Williams left the White House in 1998 after questions arose about her relationship with controversial Democratic fund raiser Johnny Chung, who was convicted of bank fraud, tax evasion, and two misdemeanor counts of conspiring to violate election law. Williams had also faced allegations during the first Clinton term that she had removed the files of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster after his suicide.

More detail and background from Huffington Post and the New York Post.

Other incongruencies: Clinton camp has said part of the reason for Solis Doyle “stepping down” is to spend more time with her family. Why then do other aides from Clinton Camp say this:

Importantly, aides stressed that Solis Doyle will begin to travel with Clinton, arguably giving her even greater access to the candidate’s ear. She plans to spend time helping Clinton in Texas, where she has close ties, and will appear as a surrogate on Clinton’s behalf.

Since when does traveling help you spend more time with your family? And yes, we already know Mrs. Solis-Doyle is tagging along to help with the large amount of Hispanic voters in Texas.

Published in: on February 11, 2008 at 6:52 pm Comments (0)
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