CWA President, A Super-Delegate, Will Endorse Obama
Larry Cohen, the president of the Communication Workers of America and a super-delegate from D.C., will endorse Obama today, CWA's communications office confirms to me.
A press release will go out sometime soon. CWA's umbrella union sat out the primary, and had left it up to individual locals to decide whom to endorse.
That brings Obama's count for the day to two. Seattle Rep. Jim McDermott threw his backing to the Illinois Senator today.
This is also Obama's second labor endorsement today, having picked up the backing of the steelworkers' union this morning -- suggesting that John Edwards' endorsement of Obama yesterday is hastening the coalescing of institutional support behind the Illinois Senator.
Late Update: The Obama camp has also just announced the support of Congressmen Henry Waxman and Howard Berman, both from California.
Nice - the endorsements are rolling in at a brisk clip now, aren't they? Thank you, John Edwards!! ;)
May 15, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you, Edwards, indeed. I must admit I'm surprised by how fast the unions are coming out. I thought they would eventually, but.... wow!
May 15, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Hillary Clinton would have us believe that she is a loyal Democrat, she best start acting like one and PDQ
May 15, 2008 2:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
A bunch of Edwards delegate from SC are endorsing today too.
(CNN) – At least six of John Edwards’ eight pledged delegates in South Carolina will throw their support to Barack Obama following Edwards’ endorsement of the Democratic frontrunner on Wednesday, CNN has learned.
Daniel Boan, Christine Brennan-Bond, Robert Groce, Susan Smith, Mike Evatt and Lauren Bilton — all elected as pledged delegates for Edwards following his third place finish in the South Carolina primary on January 29 — announced Thursday they will follow Edwards’ lead and pledge their support to Obama at the Democratic National Convention in August.
John Moylan, the Columbia attorney who directed Edwards’ campaign in the state and is now serving as an alternate delegate for Edwards, appeared on CNN’s “American Morning” Thursday. He stated his support for Obama and hinted that more members of the Edwards delegation would soon follow.
“I didn't reach all eight of them, but I can tell you that at least six of the eight are prepared to endorse Senator Obama,” Moylan said.
May 15, 2008 12:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like the ole time soul standard: "Ain't no stopping us now!"
GO BAMA!!!
May 15, 2008 12:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
I still like to idea someone posited last night of making John Edwards a Supreme at the next opening ...
Obama/Olbermann '08!
May 15, 2008 12:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I hadn't thought of that! Awesome idea!!
Obama/Feingold 08!
Sen. Jenny Oropeza for Sec. of Education!!
May 15, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naw - two senators.
Not a good idea, IMO.
May 15, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I agree in practice. In theory, it sounds awesome!
May 15, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
In theory - I'd kill to see Russ on the ticket.
Kill!
But two candidates from Congress - It's not enough varied experience/balance, IMO.
I can't get a feel for who is likely to pick right now. I get a whisper in my ear that he needs some military experience there and Webb looks really good. And he's from the South, which I also like.
May 15, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know you're not big on Richardson, but his resume is outstanding. Expert on N. Korea, energy cred, foreign policy cred = excellent for taking on oil.
I've heard innuendo on his sexy time, but that's all I've gotten. Are they anything more than rumor.
Sorry I'm off-thread. My apologies to the board.
May 15, 2008 1:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if I'd kill to see Russ run, but I'd sure beg borrow and steal.
May 15, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
But, didn't Obama say that he's not looking for someone with military/foreign policy background? Maybe looking for someone stronger on economic policy?
May 15, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan advocacy group that pushes for fiscal responsibility, placed him on its "Senate Honor Roll" every year since 1997, and ranked him in the top two every year since 1998, making their suggestion that Feingold is also one of the top budget hawks in Congress."
May 15, 2008 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sebelius!!
May 15, 2008 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Naw - two senators.
Not a good idea, IMO.
May 15, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Anybody check with Diana first?
May 15, 2008 2:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow! How did this end up way down here? Aimed at Aubie84's suggestion to make "Edwards a Supreme."
May 15, 2008 2:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
He is young and very knowledgable of the law and stands up for the common man. We could have a new Thurgood Marshall. I am SOOOOO for it.
May 15, 2008 2:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I forgot to check reply. Anywhooo, Edwards for Supreme Court Justice. Anyone know if He could be named Chief Justice, or does Roberts own it till death?
May 15, 2008 2:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Roberts is Chief Justice until he dies or resigns. Edwards would be great on the Supreme Court though or as Attorney General.
May 15, 2008 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe we can find grounds for impeachment for any of the Right Wing of the Supreme Court.
May 15, 2008 3:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
And the Obama tide keeps rolling along!
May 15, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
This IS rich...
Clinton Superdelegate Reveals He Voted for Obama
May 15, 2008 12:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, that's a middle road...
May 15, 2008 12:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup, sorta sticking your one foot in boiling water and the other in crushed ice, to achieve the "balance".
May 15, 2008 1:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
A compelling reason not to back her?
I can give him a few.
May 15, 2008 12:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Now that's a flip flop!
May 15, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
I respect his decision. He voted his preference, but is going with his district's decision as expressed by the vote. It may seem odd on the surface, but it makes logical sense (at least to me).
His first vote at the convention will be for Obama though.
May 15, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
That does make sense. He is viewing one as a personal choice and the other as his duty representing his district. Thanks for pointing that out.
May 15, 2008 1:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wonderful news, this. It is good to see organized labor getting behind the democratic nominee.
May 15, 2008 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
w00t!!!!!
May 15, 2008 1:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gobama!!!
Still, I have a stake and silver bullet handy, just in case.
May 15, 2008 1:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any one think Edwards has a serious shot at VP? I must admit all these endorsements are certainly illustrating the cache he has.
May 15, 2008 1:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
I still think Attorney General would be more in his wheelhouse. Stranger things have happened, though. We'll see how the Kentucky primary shapes up.
May 15, 2008 1:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see John Edwards accepting another VP spot on a ticket. I don't think he wants it.
And I want Patrick Fitzgerald for AG.
May 15, 2008 1:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed on Patty Fitz - the sort of smart cross-over that could start to flip some of this entrenched hyper-partisan crap.
Welcome back, btw :)
May 15, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen to that!
May 15, 2008 1:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I really like that pick, too!
May 15, 2008 1:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Excellent.
I suppose when the sitting president starts attacking you - things are looking like a done deal.
Interestingly Intrade has Obama at 91%+ for the dem nod - McCain who has been the presumtive repub for months is only at 94%. Obama is only a few points less.
May 15, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
WOW!
Waxman's now on board.
It's O-V-E-R!!!!!!
But of course, we already knew that!
May 15, 2008 1:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sweet-ness!
May 15, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
OOo - I adore that funny looking Waxman.
Thank you Henry. I think the message is growing overwhelming - HIllary, time to pack up and go back to New York, take a nice spa day.
May 15, 2008 1:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Waxman -- Yeah, I just love the thought of all those subpoenaed witnesses having to stare up at those huge nostrils of his for hours at his oversight hearings! 8-)
Spa day -- LOL!
May 15, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Are you sure she has to come back here, Tena?? We don't want her any more than you do LOL! Alas, though, we are stuck with her until at least 2012 **sigh** ;)
May 15, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
What can I say? She is free to go back to Arkansas if she likes.
We're stuck with those carpetbaggers, the Bushes, for heaven's sake.
You don't have it so bad by comparison. ;)
I have to swallow that obscene excuse for a library mere blocks away, at my law school alma mater. I'm going to quit telling people I went there.
No whining from non-residents of Dallas, who have to put up with someone they don't want - unless you come get George and take him with you - I don't want to hear it. LOL!
May 15, 2008 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, that's true - you have it MUCH worse with that abomination of a library (by the way, did Southern Methodist sign the agreement? I haven't read anything about it lately). I'm sorry about that - thank God the closest Presidential library to me is the FDR library in Hyde Park. Quite a difference, huh? ;)
May 15, 2008 1:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Unity, Ladies. Think unity.
I understand the joy, but I urge a quiet, gracious joy, in the manner Obama has shown this entire campaign.
May 15, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm speaking strictly as one of her New York constituents here. She hasn't done much for upstate NY (although she made a boatload of promises during her 2000 campaign) and I'm not happy with her as our Senator. Less happy now that I see the way she campaigns on a national level. ;)
May 15, 2008 1:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
My mood is so much better now! Winter is finally over in MN, Obama is now the nominee, and hopefully, we can stop racially dividing the electorate (though that last one may be to much to hope for).
May 15, 2008 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hee! Me too.
I don't think it is too much to hope for and I think Hillary has made that awfully clear. I don't think the population is so much in the mood to be divided at the moment.
May 15, 2008 1:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Watching Pat Buchanan last night, I don't think we're over that mountain yet. Like in Exodus, a whole generation of sinners has to die out before we reach that Promised Land.
May 15, 2008 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
The hillary camp seems suspiciously quiet today...maybe she is ready to fold. I do wish that John Edwards could be the VP pick, but guess that won't happen.
May 15, 2008 1:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking with my NC hat on, I'm guessing that the lack of carrying our state in 2k4 will count against him in the calculus on that front.
I adore John - he's good people. But I don't get the sense that he's at all interested in riding that particular horse again.
May 15, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
The NY Times "The Caucus" yesterday said that Edwards had quietly made it known that he would consider the VP slot and was interested in the AG job, despite his public statement to the contrary.
It also said that he waited so long to endorse because he wanted to go with the winner to enhance his chances of getting a job in the administration. If true, it doesn't say a lot about his convictions, at least to me.
May 15, 2008 2:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
If true being the operable bit there - there was a lot of theory being put forward as fact last night and into today, a lot of which doesn't pass the smell test with his history. I'm not saying he's a saint by any means, and he's certainly not one to pass a good opportunity by if it presents, but i'd treat even "insider" info with kid gloves at this point - there's been a lot of false positives surrounding him since he turned his sights on the media in the late stages of his '08 run. That eternity of 5 months ago, lol :)
Lest I'm confusing anyone - he wasn't my horse in this race at any point in the game, but he's not the rank opportunist a lot of folks would like to paint him as these days either.
May 15, 2008 2:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Eh. I think Obama can do a lot better than Edwards.
May 15, 2008 1:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ditto.
I lost a lot of my fire for him the longer he waited to endorse.
I want a man like Richardson on the ticket, someone with the guts to stand for what he thought was right when it wasn't easy.
May 15, 2008 1:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm warming to the idea of Sibelius as VP as others have suggested, but an weighing her potential to bring in Clinton supporters nationwide with Richardson's potential to deliver New Mexico and/or Colorado.
[And assuming that we have to let Webb keep Virginia's Senate seat safe]
May 15, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I blogged on some of the VP contenders earlier this week. Check it out, if you'd like...
http://indepthleft.blogspot.com/2008/05/and-nominees-are.html
May 15, 2008 1:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Janet Napolitano? Make McCain fight for his home state?
May 15, 2008 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Then again, she doesn't really help with McCain's perceived foreign policy advantage nor with the working class. For that, Webb or Clark would be good picks.
May 15, 2008 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Or Feingold, I think.
May 15, 2008 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Feingold is my dream VP (Wisconsin boy here). Hell, Feingold is my dream President.
But, he's probably "too liberal" to make a serious run, and geographically he doesn't really bring anything.
May 15, 2008 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm a WI native myself! I agree with your statements, ufortuately. "Too liberal"-- sad.
May 15, 2008 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very sad, indeed.
Maybe Majority Leader?
But he's a junior senator, so who knows.
May 15, 2008 2:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am also a Cheezer (well not technically anymore but will always be one at heart - Go WI!) and Russ is my hero. Sadly, I agree he would not be good on the ticket but would be a great veep in practice.
May 15, 2008 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
11 endorsements today as Obama picked up 7 Edwards Delegates as well: 1 from NH and 6 from SC
May 15, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wonder who it was in New Hampshire? I am almost there, across the river in Vermont. Anyway, that is great news, and not for Hillary!
May 15, 2008 1:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even though Obama's got the nomination, CWA and Cohen are still good and important "gets."
What we clearly have now is labor coalescing around Obama, leaving AFSCME, AFT and the Machinists all the more isolated and irrelevant.
May 15, 2008 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
This shit is so over.
May 15, 2008 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama/Waxman 08!!
(Congressmen are fair game, right?)
The other benefit of the Edwards endorsement--whether or not he is a real VEEP candidate--is that it reminds everyone that if Obama has a problem with white, working class voters, and really needs a boost there from his running mate, there are a hell of a lot of other white people he could pick for VP who would be far more appealing to that group, far less divisive to his base, and far less invigorating to the GOP, than Hillary.
(Although I think Waxman might be a tad too liberal for the Reagan Democrats)
May 15, 2008 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Finally, the cascade! Thanks, John!
May 15, 2008 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
Watch out, Hill might go 'Lieberman' on our ass.
May 15, 2008 3:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Have the trolls gone back under the bridge?
May 15, 2008 3:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!
May 15, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
EXCELLENT
May 15, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just doing my part to save the planet from Bush III.
May 15, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
You mean...The Day The Earth Spewed Hill?
May 15, 2008 10:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Where has 'idiotic' been ?
May 15, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on, sweetie.
No one has done more for superdelegates than Barack Obama.
May 15, 2008 6:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Come on this.
Is that all you got?
Broken Record Troll
May 15, 2008 7:09 PM | Reply | Permalink