The next day, Obama phoned Clinton and invited him out for a round. Band recommended that the two Presidents begin by playing golf. Band, who, by reputation, has an acute sense for moments of political advantage, tried to explain that you don’t just call up Bill Clinton and tell him to raise money and campaign for you. Patrick Gaspard, the former White House political director, who has moved to the Democratic National Committee, approached Douglas Band, Clinton’s closest political adviser and longtime gatekeeper, with some suggestions about how the former President might help with Obama’s 2012 reëlection campaign. The reconciliation began in earnest late last summer. Joe Biden was bumped to the following night, in the slot immediately before Obama. The former Democratic President, long spurned by the current one, has been given a prominent speaking spot at the Convention, in Charlotte, the night before the President’s speech-a spot usually reserved for the Vice-President. Nevertheless, a carefully orchestrated reconciliation of sorts has been under way for some time now. They have openly disagreed on policy issues and political strategy, and the acrimony generated during the 2008 Democratic primaries, when Hillary Clinton ran against Obama for the nomination, has yet to fully dissipate. Some of their advisers concede that the two men don’t really like each other. And if Giannoulias loses, they can try to reclaim it in 2016.Why else would Obama spend hours on a golf course being lectured by Clinton? Illustration by Andy Friedmanīarack Obama and Bill Clinton have never been close. (Shortly after, Jackson affirmed that he was supporting Giannoulias.)Ĭlearly, the black community wanted to keep that Senate seat. told Politico, “I like Alexi Giannoulias, but I have great respect for Mark Kirk and his service to the people of Illinois,” leading to speculation that he might endorse Kirk. Rush isn’t the only black politician who’s not sold on Giannoulias. Rush seems to feel he has a choice with Giannoulias, who is now trying to snatch away Burris’s seat two months early by putting his name up for the special Senate election. And Hull gave Rush’s half-brother a $12,000-a-month job on the campaign.Īfter the primary, though, Rush swallowed his pride and endorsed Obama. Rush was still angry at Obama for trying to take his congressional seat in 2000. In 2004, when Barack Obama ran for the Senate, Rush endorsed … Blair Hull. Rush would have more credibility, though, if he hadn’t allowed spite to interfere with the black community’s best interests. Protesters demonstrate against world leaders, Israel-Hamas war as APEC comes to San Francisco And as a congressman from Illinois, the only state willing to elect a black senator, Rush is in a special position to ensure it happens. There’s nothing wrong with a black politician believing there should be one African-American in the 100-member Senate. When the Senate leadership discussed blocking Burris from taking the seat, Rush compared them to George Wallace and Bull Connor, using dogs and firehoses to keep a black man out of the Senate. “I would ask you not to hang or lynch the appointee as you would the appointer.” Rod Blagojevich introduced Burris as his choice. “We need to have an African-American in the Senate,” Rush said at the press conference where then-Gov. Rush made Burris’s appointment a racial issue. He endorsed Cheryle Robinson Jackson in the primary, and he was Roland Burris’s most vociferous supporter after Burris was appointed to the Senate. We want a senator who is willing to work hard on the real issues that this state is confronted with.”Ĭlearly, Rush would prefer to see a black senator. “I’m not sold on him,” Rush said Thursday. Add Alexi Giannoulias to the list of politicians Rep.
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