Breaking News: US Rep. William Delahunt of Massachusetts Will Endorse Barack Obama Today

[Hope And Change]

Deval Patrick plans to pitch Barack Obama directly to voters in three key states. Patrick endorsed Obama at a rally in October on Boston Common (above) that attracted almost 10,000. (Robert Spencer/Getty Images)


Delahunt says Obama will restore US image abroad


December 27, 2007

US Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, a leading foreign policy voice in the Democratic Party, will endorse Barack Obama for president today, saying he believes the senator will repair the image of the United States overseas.

"If Barack Obama is elected president, I daresay America will present a new face to the world, will restore, simply by his election, hope - not just within the United States, but from all corners of the world, that America's claim to moral authority is back on track and that our leadership in world affairs will see a renaissance," Delahunt told the Globe.

Delahunt's endorsement - Obama's first from the Massachusetts congressional delegation - will be made as Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton of New York spar about their respective foreign policy credentials. Clinton has argued that her experiences during her husband's presidency, including extensive international travel, make her the better candidate to deal with foreign leaders and potential terrorist threats.

But Delahunt, declining to criticize Clinton by name, dismissed that notion. "Please do not equate experience with judgment. That's what this is about," Delahunt said. Voters should not "confuse experience with time in Washington," he said, noting that John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton all had limited direct foreign policy experience before taking office.

Obama opposed the Iraq war from the start, Delahunt noted, while veteran lawmakers voted to authorize force. Delahunt said he was also influenced by Obama's stated willingness - criticized by the Clinton campaign - to meet with rogue world leaders. Delahunt has met with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, negotiating a deal for home heating oil for his constituents from a Latin American leader who once referred to President Bush as "the devil."

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/12/27/delahunt_says_obama_will_restore_us_image_abroad/

[AtomicKitten]

1. Great endorsement and I agree with his rationale.

[NI4NI]

2. Delahunt is a damn good Democrat

disappointed he didn't endorse my man, Joe.:)

[cali]

3. very nice endorsement for Obama.

Delahunt is an influential rep.

[Perry Logan]

4. ...and deny the "endorsement" tomorrow.

[ClarkUSA]

7. Yeah, like all those black ministers Hillary falsely portrayed as endorsements ...

:rofl:

[Perry Logan]

8. That's called "changing the subject." But at least we agree Barack is no better than Hillary.

[ClarkUSA]

11. Obama got 2 wrong. Hillary got one-third of her entire list wrong. That's a symbolic ratio.

Are you spamming every Obama thread?

[Perry Logan]

14. It's still changing the subject, but thanks for the phrase "symbolic ratio."

As for spamming, if the Obamites can do it, I can do it.

[Hippo_Tron]

16. Could you have possibly come up with a more petty attack?

[Saturday]

5. Who? n/t

[BeyondGeography]

6. That's who

http://www.house.gov/delahunt/about.shtml

[jefferson_dem]

9. Fabulous endorsement!

:applause:

[babylonsister]

10. Gobama!

:applause:

[SoxFan]

12. Good pick-upp for Obama

Delahunt is the kind of guy you would expect to go with Hillary. He's not the stereotypical "liberal intellectual". He's an Irish Catholic who served as district attorney for Boston's south shore suburbs for many years.

[suston96]

13. Delahunt is my rep....I campaigned for him......

...he made deals with Hugo Chavez so that my family members on Cape Cod could afford heating oil in the very cold winters there...I appreciated that.

But he should have stayed out of the primary where Democrats are pitted against Democrats.

Look around here. I am apprehensive at how much permanent harm is being done to the party by such bitter, divisive rivalries.

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. Great news for Obama! Delahunt rooms with Durbin in DC, so I kinda expected this one. How could he

not support his roommate's guy?;)