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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Sam Nunn, Robert Reich, "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen and Former Senator David Boren Endorse Barack Obama for President Sam Nunn, Robert Reich, "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen and Former Senator David Boren Endorse Barack Obama for President By JON HOPWOOD, published Apr 21, 2008 Sam Nunn and Robert Reich, two Democratic Party heavyweights, formerly endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States. The two endorsements were significant as Nunn, a former U.S. Senator from Georgia who served as chair of the Senate Armed Service, had talked of his own third-party bid for the Presidency, and Reich had served as President Bill Clinton's Secretary of Labor under President Bill Clinton. One of the reasons Nunn gave for leaving the Senate in 1997 was that the Democratic Party under Clinton had become too liberal, so his endorsement will help the liberal Obama with moderates and conservatives. Nunn reportedly had been involved in strategic talks with billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York City who also is a potential third party candidate for President. The Reich endorsement had a more personal spin as, besides having worked for Bill Clinton in the Cabinet like former Energy Secretary (and Obama endorser) Bill Richardson, he was a friend of Bill's when both attended Oxford University and had dated Hillary Clinton née Rodham when both were attending Yale Law School. A native of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Robert Reich is an economist who formerly taught at Brandeis and Harvard and is now a professor at U.C. Berkeley. He wrote on his Web site that he had put off endorsing Obama due to his personal ties with the Clintons, but decided to take the step as "my conscience won't let me be silent any longer." Barack Obama has now been endorsed by five former members of Bill Clinton's Cabinet: Bill Daley (Commerce), Norman Mineta (Transportation), Federico Pena (Energy & Transportation), Reich (Labor), and Bill Richardson (United Nations & Energy). The Richardson endorsement of Barack Obama was particularly devastating to the Clintons as he had been widely considered a potential running mate for Hillary. An expert on economics and social issues, Robert Reich says that Barack Obama's proposals reforming Social Security, regulating the financial markets, and for dealing with the housing crisis superior to Hillary Clinton's. He also praised Obama's foreign policy proposals and his stands on education, global warming, and poverty. Reich has criticized the behavior of both Clintons during the Democratic primary season. The race-baiting of Bill & Hillary Clinton was instrumental in Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama, who is mixed-race but identifies as African American. Richardson, a Latino, served in the Clinton Cabinet as Ambassador to the United Nations and as Secretary of Energy. What provided the tipping point for Reich was the Clintons' politically motived attack on Barack Obama's comment that white working people were "bitter" due to their having lost ground economically over the past generation and have turned to "wedge" issues like guns as their economic needs have been ignored. Reich believes that Obama was right. Robert Reich resigned his position as Labor Secretary at the beginning of Bill Clinton's second term in 1997. This was at least partly if not primarily due to Bill Clinton's tack to the right to guarantee victory in the 1996 election. (The decision to move to the right, which included signing a Republican-backed, draconian welfare reform bill, was made by the then-President under the advice of right-wing political consultant Dick Morris, who was brought back into the Clinton inner-circle by Hillary Clinton.) Reich was appalled by Hillary Clinton's labeling of Barack Obama as an "elitist" for pointing out the truth: that the working class has not shared equally in the expansion of America's wealth, much of which has been captured by the top tiers of society. "To focus on whether Obama should have used the word 'bitter' when he talked about the plight of many in Pennsylvania and to resurrect the old Republican themes of guns and religion and to call Obama elitist, quote-unquote, just put me over the edge," Reich said. "I could no longer sit back and be silent. I had to say what I believed." In endorsing Barack Obama, Sam Nunn apparently has dropped any ambitions to mount a third party run as President on his own, or as Vice President on a potential ticket headed by the billionaire Michael Bloomberg. Justifying his decision to endorse Obama, Nunn told Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, "He's got good judgment and good common sense, and he is able to inspire people to come together. That's the most important quality in my view." Nunn is considered by many pundits to be a possible running mate of Barack Obama due to his extensive experience with the military and foreign policy. A southerner, the conservative Nunn would also provide the Democratic ticket with both ideological and geographical balance and appeal to conservative-to-moderate Democrats and independents concerned that Obama might be too liberal. Barack Obama also picked up the endorsement of former U.S. Senator David Boren. Now the president of the University of Oklahoma, Boren was the governor of Oklahoma from 1975 to 1979 before serving as a Senator from 1979 to 1999. While in the Senate, Boren headed the Intelligence Committee. He was regarded as a conservative who was an ally of Sam Nunn and other conservative to moderate Democrats. Obama issued a statement addressing the endorsements: "I am honored to have the support and counsel of two of our nation's leading voices on national security, and two of our most respected advocates for national unity." In a related development, Bruce Springsteen, the rock star, formally endorsed Barack Obama in a letter to his fans on his Web site. Of Obama, Springsteen writes, "He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where '...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone.' "
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#3. To: aristeides (#0)
David Boren -Skull and Bones
#4. To: honway (#3)
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!! Yer a Big Guv'ment pussy, my friend...MUD
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