Endorsement Watch
Former U.S. Ambassador Edward Romero and Henry Cisneros, the first Hispanic to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), announced their endorsements this afternoon of Hillary Clinton, per a statement from the campaign. Both men were backing Bill Richardson. BUT Cisneros served as HUD sec. under Bill Clinton, and it was then-president Clinton who appointed Romero ambassador to Spain.
“I asked myself two questions: Who will be the best President and who can win in November? For me, the choice was clear. Senator Clinton time and again has worked hard and has a strong record of delivering real results for this country. She is best equipped to get this country back on track,” said Romero, in a statement issued by HRC's team.
Cali Rep. George Miller endorsed Barack Obama today.
"Barack has the skills and experience that's necessary to really challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C.," Miller said before a press conference Wednesday in San Francisco, in a comment reported by the Contra Costa Times. "I'm very encouraged by the energy of the people responding to him and his vision of how people can come together to solve the problems that confront us."
Miller's backing is -- by most estimations -- the closest thing to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seal of approval.
(JENNIFER SKALKA)
"Barack has the skills and experience that's necessary to really challenge the status quo in Washington, D.C.," Miller said before a press conference Wednesday in San Francisco, in a comment reported by the Contra Costa Times. "I'm very encouraged by the energy of the people responding to him and his vision of how people can come together to solve the problems that confront us."
Ok, this is sad.
1. The Democrats are the majority party and up until now have not been able to challenge, much less change, the status quo--something for which they won the 2006 elections. How can one person do what a majority of Democrats have been unable to do?
2. If Obama truly has the skills and experience to change the status quo, why hasn't he done so already? Why must we wait to see if he gets into the White House first? I would think that flexing these awesome skills would have gone further to add to his aura of inevitability.
Miller's backing is -- by most estimations -- the closest thing to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seal of approval.
And whose making those estimations? Other members of the California delegation? Pelosi's chief of staff? A member of Miller's staff? Unattributed comments are usually not very credible.
George Miller is a committee chairman but holds no leadership position in the House, e.g., Majority Leader or Whip. So why do we care if Miller endorses Obama?