Napolitano machine trying to build Obama momentum
January 29th, 2008, 3:45 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
Napolitano/Obama, Jan. 30, 2008
Gov. Janet Napolitano didn’t just lend her name to a list of prominent supporters for Barack Obama’s presidential bid. She’s rolled out the political red-carpet and tapped into her campaign machinery to help the Illinois senator overtake Hillary Clinton’s lead in the polls by Tuesday’s primary.
Napolitano held her second in-person rally for Obama in six days. Last week, she featured Hollywood actress Kate Walsh. Today, it was to highlight the list of politicians endorsing Obama including Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., who switched his support from John Edwards to Obama. Tuscon Democrat activist Ted Prezelski reported at his blog the Edwards campaign released all of its backers to throw their support elsewhere.
Grijalva’s endorsement is nice, since he’s developed more of a presence in Washington than Rep. Ed Pastor, the senior Democrat in the Arizona’s congressional delegation.
But what’s really impressive here is Napolitano’s personal effort to help Obama, even while Napolitano is trying to deal with a $1 billion budget shortfall and could see some early, bruising clashes with the Legislature. Grijalva is his own man with his own power base in southern Arizona. But he certainly found it easier to jump behind Obama with Napolitano whispering in the ear of every prominent Democrat in the state.
Napolitano also personally helped to woo potential voters on Saturday, and is featured in one of Obama’s new television ads.
More people are coming to believe Napolitano has the inside track to a prime Cabinet post if Obama wins the nomination and defeats the Republican challenger in November. Her actions add plenty of credence to that point of view.
Obama will make his own appearance in the Valley today at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Clinton campaign will counter with a visit by former President Bill Clinton on Thursday.
Sidenote: Nobody has said much about the fact that former Democractic Party chairman Jim Pederson has stayed in the Clinton camp, despite his close ties to Napolitano. Of course, Clinton was a big help to Pederson with fund raising during his unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate in 2006.
