Coleman Endorses Obama

In a surprising move, this morning at 11am Mayor Mike Coleman of Columbus is set to endorse presidential hopeful Barack Obama at a rally in the city. The Columbus Dispatch had a breaking news alert late last night.

Despite phone calls from both Clintons — Bill and Hillary — Mayor Michael B. Coleman will endorse Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination at an Obama campaign rally Friday in Columbus.

Comparing Obama to two Democratic icons, Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, Coleman called the Illinois senator "a one-of-a-kind who comes along only every few generations."

"Every once in a while, a figure comes in history who is a galvanizing and uniting force, an inspirational person who lifts up peoples' hopes, and I think that person is Barack Obama," Coleman told The Dispatch.

Those are strong words. They're stronger still considering I've heard from other Ohio officeholder regarding what resources they've been promised by Team Clinton should they endorse early. It's hard to tell the former President of the United States of America, when he calls you at home, that you won't endorse his wife because you have another candidate you're interested. It's harder yet when the President is offering to put you in touch with campaign donors, field lists, and anything else in the world to get you on the team. I'm 100% positive that Obama doesn't have the resources to promise campaigns like the Clintons. And still, Coleman endorsed Obama. This one comes from the heart.

Furthermore, my first thought when I heard of the endorsement was that it was interesting it came before the November re-election. In my opinion, endorsing a presidential candidate doesn't stand to help a strong incumbent sailing to an easy re-election. Coleman has a far superior ground game to Bill Todd, an infrastructure built since 1999, great polling numbers, and a Democratic wave at his back. Bill Todd has 0% chance of winning the Columbus Mayoral race. In fact, the only threat that Bill Todd stands as is if he, as many folks anticipate, rolls his campaign into a bid for Franklin County Commissioner or OH-15 (and OH-15 just extends the laugh fest, the commissioner bid is a little - but not much - more serious). I know where Coleman stands. The Dispatch knows where he stands. Bill Todd knows where Coleman stands. Which is why Joe Hallet's idiotic remarks in the Columbus Dispatch, speculating on this endorsement, floor me.

Coleman acknowledged that Todd has sought to woo black voters by proposing a mayoral takeover of the city's public school system, and he denied that his endorsement of a black presidential candidate was meant to counter Todd's overture.

"This has nothing to do with my race for mayor and it has nothing to do with race at all," Coleman said. "It has to do with the nation's best interests and, in fact, transcends issues of race. It's about electing a president who can bring people together, not divide them."

Hallet, let me get this right. You think even floating this stuff is pertinent and worthwhile? You know as well as anyone else the position of strength the mayor's in. Based on Coleman's likelihood to return to city hall, an endorsement in the presidential is more likely to hurt Coleman in his re-election than help. It's this sort of commentary that just makes bloggers pause when we read Hallet's work and wonder "WTF? Is the guy really that out of touch?" I mean, most of the time I think Hallet's on the ball. But every now and then...whatever.

The rest of the article reminds readers that Coleman endorsed Clark last cycle, and that Coleman will fight feverishly for Hillary if she's selected as the nominee. Good stuff.