TUESDAY’S OTHER WINNER
The Mayor of Los Angeles had a somber look Wednesday morning at the Universal Hilton Hotel. At least at the start. He appeared before a group of police chiefs from around the world to talk about cross-border cooperation in fighting deadly street gangs. The dramatic up-tick in gang shootings in Los Angeles over the past two weeks added to the gravitas of the event.
But when the news conference was over and a few reporters crowded in.. the Mayor was all smiles. His mood had brightened for one reason:
Texas.
The Los Angeles Times had run a story detailing all the time he had spent away from the city helping campaign for Senator Hillary Clinton. The paper talked about the LAPD detail that went with him for security on the city’s tab. That was followed by an amusing piece from Steve Lopez who chronicled his unsuccessful efforts to get an interview with the Mayor while in Dallas. http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-lopez4mar04,1,63450.column?ctrack=2&cset=true It was such a bad run that the Mayor decided to come home a day early.
But then Hillary won Texas.. and suddenly the negative publicity surrounding his out-of-state campaign swings didn’t seem to sting as much. In fact he may have benefited from it in some ways in that Hillary would appreciate all the heat the Mayor was taking from his constituents on her behalf. And then there was the fact Texas was delievered by some of Antonio’s friends. Bay Area political consultant Ace Smith (who ran Antonio’s race for Mayor) was in charge of the ground campaign in Texas and is widely credited with the win there. And if Hillary did well with Latino voters in Texas.. well Antonio could take some credit for that as well.
And so when the candidate rallies so too do those who have stuck their neck out for them. Leon Beaucoudray’s comment from yesterday’s post:
“The Super-delegates who held fast for HRC are feeling pretty good; the uncommitted are happy that they did not jump prematurely on the Obamawagon; and the ones who jumped recently from her to him must feel like the guy in a traffic jam who changes lanes and then comes to a halt as the cars in his old lane pass him by.”
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I wonder Antonio will campaign in other states. This weekend’s Wyoming caucus marks the end of the caucus season (outside of Guam & Puerto Rico). The 10 remaining states are all primary elections, which plays to HRC’s strength.