Clinton Endorsed by L.A. Mayor

30 May 2007 |permalink | email article

It’s no surprise that Antonio Villaraigosa will endorse Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton for president this afternoon at a UCLA rally to unveil her California campaign focusing initially on women and Latinos.

Villaraigosa is viewed as a rising star in national Democratic politics and a top national Latino elected official whom the campaign believes can play a pivotal role in California’s Feb. 5 primary election where Clinton, despite high negatives, leads top challenger Barack Obama by double digits.

The mayor has a reputation as a frenetic people person who publicly regards former president Bill Clinton as his political role model.

Recently, the wooing of Villaraigosa took on a very public face when the mayor was seen in the company of Clinton at the exclusive Kobe Club steakhouse in Manhattan.

In an almost unimaginable display of chutzpah, Clinton walked over to a nearby table where Rush Limbaugh was seated, and introduced him to the mayor, for which the iconic radio talk show host took heat from conservatives when he recalled the encounter the next day. 

Earlier, at a March campaign event in Los Angeles, Villaraigosa lavished praise on the candidate and more recently, in a magazine profile, said, “when Hillary Clinton is one on one, she speaks from the heart…If you want to be president you have to speak from the heart.”

The unflattering New Yorker profile by Connie Bruck this month suggested that some of Villaraigosa’s own political problems in Los Angeles may stem less from the Latino dilemma over immigration than his own shortcomings.

“His single-minded ambition contains a streak of petty vindictiveness, and he has alienated many who were once enthusiastic supporters. Even among other politicians – not a shy group – his drive for self-aggrandizement sets him apart…” 

That said, sources close to the Clinton campaign expect other major state and local elected officials eventually to join Villaraigosa in endorsing her candidacy.

This sets up a dramatic duel between the entrenched Democratic establishment and a growing grassroots movement backing Obama over the next eight months.

 

 

 

 

 

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