Wu Endorses Obama
US Representative David Wu endorsed Barack Obama earlier this morning.
From the Oregonian:
Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., announced this morning that he is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president."I think he is best suited to turn the page on a pretty sorry episode in American history," Wu said.
Wu made his final decision after he had a discussion with Obama about policy issues yesterday.
"I wanted to have a conversation to express my deep concern about some issues that I feel very strongly about," Wu said.
Wu is the third of Oregon's four House Democrats to endorse a candidate in the presidential primary. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., endorsed Obama in February. Rep. Darlene Hooley, D-Ore., endorsed Clinton last August and is co-chair of Rural Americans for Hillary. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., has not endorsed a candidate. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also has not endorsed a candidate, although his chief of staff, Josh Kardon, chairs Clinton's Oregon Steering Committee.
Read the rest. With the endorsement, Obama and Hillary Clinton are tied amongst Oregon's superdelegates with two apiece. Wu and US Representative Earl Blumenauer have endorsed Obama, while Governor Ted Kulongoski and US Representative Darlene Hooley have endorsed Clinton.
Discuss.
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April 24, 2008
Posted in in the news. |
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10:06 a.m.
Apr 24, '08
Wonderful news. This is what leaders should be doing: showing some leadership.
Yet another reason I prefer any of our Democratic House members to Wyden.
Apr 24, '08
Cool! Wu... I worked with Wu on the Clinton campaign in '92. He bought me a couple of drinks. I used to be his constituent as well. He is an FOB, so this is a big step for him. Thanks, David!
Apr 24, '08
My guess is Wyden waits until June. I think his endorsement would have considerable weight earlier though. I'm definitely interested in what DeFazio will do. And Meredith Wood Smith, Frank Dixon, Wayne Kinney, Jenny Greenleaf and Gail Rasmussen of course. Shouldn't Tom Potter be a SD?
10:15 a.m.
Apr 24, '08
Speaking as one of Wu's constituents... it'd take several dozen Wu's to equal one Wyden as far as I'm concerned. But as an Obama supporter I'll certainly not turn up my nose at any endorsement of his candidacy.
10:20 a.m.
Apr 24, '08
I should explain my comment above so I don't sound so grumpy. I am an Obama supporter, but my point is that Wyden is letting a surrogate openly support Clinton while keeping his own cards to his vest. I like it when politicians go full-force one way or another and don't try to split the difference. Whether superdelegates are going to endorse Obama or Clinton, they all have enough information to decide by now. They should come out and do so and let us get to work uniting the party and focusing on beating John McCain.
10:30 a.m.
Apr 24, '08
Whether superdelegates are going to endorse Obama or Clinton, they all have enough information to decide by now.
Except, of course, if they're planning to vote the will of the people in their state or district.
Shouldn't Tom Potter be a SD?
No, automatic supers are the members of congress, governors, and party leaders. Beyond that, there are some add-on supers that each state gets - the number is highly variable and depends on many automatic supers there are. (If Oregon had only one Democratic congressman, we'd have more add-ons to fill the gap.) Oregon does have one add-on, to be nominated by the state party chair. In recent cycles, that role has always been filled by former Governor Barbara Roberts.
Apr 24, '08
Thanks for the info Kari. This is an aside obviously, but is Blue Oregon going to give any coverage to the Beaverton Mayoral Race?
Apr 24, '08
I suspect that if Obama handily bests Clinton in North Carolina as the polls suggest, we will see a bunch of SDs jump on the Obama bandwagon the very next day.
Apr 24, '08
Wu HOO HOO!!!
Thank you Congressman for your timely endorsement! Oregonians are grateful to you for letting your voice be heard!
Apr 24, '08
This made my day, week and month!Thank you Wu, I feel just a bit better about you now. After that last town hall meeting in Tigard, wherein you just didn't see grounds for impeachment (can we say TORTURE?), I wasn't so sure.
THANKS DAVID WU!!! Feel much better walking my neighborhood for you now.
Apr 24, '08
There are a couple other SD's indicating their support for Barack today, and yesterday the campaign leaked that they had 20 or so lined up. They only need about 20 on top of that to make a Hillary victory impossible under the worst scenarios for Obama. I think we're finally seeing the endgame, especially with Hillary losing ground among women, whites, the poor, and the less-educated in Pennsylvania.
10:52 a.m.
Apr 24, '08
That is so weird--he was on NPR just this morning talking about how he was going to remain neutral. But that he didn't: SWEET!
Apr 24, '08
It is silly to attack Wyden for not getting behind one candidate or the other. He has stated for months that he would not take a side b/c he thinks we have two fine candidates and he doesn't want to jeopardize his health care bill's chances of success should he choose the losing candidate. That makes good sense to me.
Wyden is letting a surrogate openly support Clinton
Again, a really silly criticism. Obama correctly criticized Clinton for playing this game of pretending that any position taken by someone you know means that you share that same position. Josh Kardon is an adult and is exercising his right to support any candidate he wants. Wyden is not "letting" this happen. Josh is simply exercising his 1st Amendment right. If anyone wants to pretend they can climb inside of Wyden and Kardon's heads and see their intentions and discover this sinister pot than I suggest they lay off the sauce.
Apr 24, '08
Breaking news on Obama from Chicago!
http://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/04/24/larry-sinclair-affidavit-donald-young-obama-chicago-police-department-breaking-news/
12:10 p.m.
Apr 24, '08
Go publish your smut somewhere else.
Apr 24, '08
Wu-HOO! Good for Congressman Wu!
Apr 24, '08
Yeah, we can now feel good about pounding the pavement for David Wu because he's supporting Barack. . . Are you nuts?
Remember the no reason for impeachment guy? Remember the sexual assault? Oh, wait... we should now support him because of his commitment to Obama?
What is wrong with you? I'd never walk my neighborhood with Wu literature again, he's a creep! I don’t care who he’s supporting.
Apr 24, '08
FYI "Christines", Mr. Sinclair failed a lie detector test on his accusations, not once, not twice, but three times. If this thing had any legs, Hillary's campaign would be all over it.
Apr 24, '08
Great news!
Thanks Congressman Wu..!
Apr 24, '08
I just called Congressman Wu's office at 503-326-2901 to thank him for his endorsement; this is a good endorsement and I will take it and say thank you regardless of other issues I have had with him in the past.
2:07 p.m.
Apr 24, '08
As an ardent opponent of Clinton and a huge Obama supporter, I find this endorsement really disheartening. Why can't the Oregon superdelegates wait until after the damned primary to endorse?
That said, calling Josh Kardon a surrogate for Wyden is laughable. All the evidence that we have is that Kardon supports Clinton and serves on her cmapaign committee. He's not being secretive about it, and there's zero evidence that he speaks for Wyden regardless of Wyden's final endorsement.
Let's keep some perspective here......
Apr 24, '08
What is wrong with you? I'd never walk my neighborhood with Wu literature again, he's a creep! I don’t care who he’s supporting. Kym
What's with the ad hominem attack? Why can't you just disagree without questioning my sanity?
Of course he's wrong to be against impeachment and I have his stupid comments on videotape from the Tigard town hall meeting. But IT'S THE SUPREME COURT, STUPID! We have to get a Democrat elected to the presidency, and we need bigger majorities in both houses. So, as a good little Democrat, I'll be walking my neighborhood for our candidates, even if they are not perfect. I'm far, far to the left of all of them currently in office, but old enough to see the big picture.
3:25 p.m.
Apr 24, '08
Pat Ryan: Why can't the Oregon superdelegates wait until after the damned primary to endorse?
I agree with you when talking about party leaders, Pat. But the rules are different for our elected officials. It's their job every day to author and take positions on controversial issues, and then defend these before the voters every election. I really don't see any difference between that and an opinion on the Democratic nominee.
3:54 p.m.
Apr 24, '08
I'm glad to see Congressman Wu join the Obama team!
If you want to hear another Oregon super delegate, Congressman Blumenauer talk about why he's supporting Senator Obama, come to one of the scores of Obama house parties in 34 Oregon cities this Saturday, April 26. There will be a special Oregon-only conference call at 7:00 PM PDT with Earl and Senator Dick Durbin.
To find a party in your neighborhood,visit: http://or.barackobama.com/ORhousepartyhost
Apr 24, '08
Pat Ryan: Why can't the Oregon superdelegates wait until after the damned primary to endorse?
Why can't they?...Why should they? Superdelegates don't exist for the purpose of doing whatever their state or district did. If they did exist for that reason, why have them at all?
While I do not approve of the undemocratic nature of the superdelegate process, I am adult enough to recognize that this is how the system works and that it was not designed for them to rubberstamp the will of their states. Wu didn't make the rules. He's just following them.
If you want to bitch at superdelegates, bitch at the ones who are from states that have already voted, but have still not pledged. These fence-sitters are responsible for this sordid affair going on so needlessly.
Dem' du berries.
11:20 a.m.
Apr 25, '08
If you want to bitch at superdelegates, bitch at the ones who are from states that have already voted, but have still not pledged. These fence-sitters are responsible for this sordid affair going on so needlessly.
Dylan, I think we actually agree on that point.
My position all along has been that for the sake of party unity, superdelegates ought to wait until after their state votes. To those who say that this or that category of supers is "different", I'd say that the overriding fact about supers is that all of them whether party supers or elected supers, can do anything they want, any time they want, but it doesn't mean that they should...
As I am living in a house divided out here in Sandy, I say we just hold our mud until June 3rd or until one of 'em hits 2025. In either event, it would be over by mid June at the latest.
I'm hopeful that the Clintons have enough self-interest left not to blow up the whole party over this deal, that Hillary is looking at a long senate tenure with her power increasing every year, and that's not a bad carrot to foster some basic decency in the endgame.
Apr 29, '08
Congressman Wu has lost my support and vote. I have e-mailed him with my concerns in this recent decision. Clinton's healthcare plan will give every American health insurance. Working class families will receive tax credits to keep the amount they spend on healthcare at a certain percentage. Obama's plan costs twice as much per person as Clinton's plan and only 50% of those currently uninsured will be insured under Obama's plan. Clinton's plans for Higher Education, Medical care for returning soldiers and their families, Autism, and access to quality and affordable childcare far surpass Obama's plans. Wu has just turned his back on his supporters. He promised to fight for children and families. He's breaking that promise. As a healthcare worker, I have seen the tragic consequences resulting from children being left unattended and the awful, awful realities that people face when they do not have health insurance. David Wu says he supports Obama because he has opposed the Wars in Iraq and Afganistan. A few minutes ago I reviewed Wu's voting record. His record shows that he voted for billions and billions of dollars specifically to fund the Wars in Iraq and Afganistan. He voted no only one time in 2005.
Congressman has lost my vote. I've asked my friends to join me.
May 21, '08
Wu won his Democratic nomination run by OVER 70%.
<h2>Congratulations to Representative Wu and all the hard-working members of his staff. We'll be watching any Republican challengers go down in flames in the fall for his Dist 1 house seat.</h2>