Obama taps Rothman for role in campaign
Friday, July 27, 2007

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama yesterday named U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman, D-Fair Lawn, the "Northeast Regional Co-Chair" of his presidential campaign.

Rothman, who represents parts of Secaucus, North Bergen, Kearny and Jersey City, praised Obama's commitment to ending the war in Iraq and said the Illinois senator is the best candidate to unite all Americans.

"It's time to turn the page and bring an end to the Bush-Cheney foreign policy that has left Americans vulnerable here at home and reduced matters of war and national defense to signs and slogans," Rothman said.

"Barack Obama is the best candidate for president, with the strength and character to change our broken politics and restore America's standing in the world," Rothman added.

Rothman joins Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and Newark Mayor Cory Booker as Garden State backers of Obama. Gov. Jon Corzine has endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., for president, while state Senate President Richard Codey supports former North Carolina senator John Edwards.

A Quinnipiac University poll taken earlier this month found that Clinton, at 37 percent, leads former Vice President (and non-candidate) Al Gore at 18 percent and Obama at 15 percent in the statewide primary race.

Although she's closed the gap, Clinton - scheduled to appear at a rally and fund-raiser Monday in Jersey City - still trailed Republican front-runner former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani 47 to 44 percent, according to the poll.

KEN THORBOURNE

I guess Healy thinks if he comes out early in full support and if indeed Obama wins the presidency, he'll be appointed Secretary of State or something. Could you imagine?

Director of ALCOHOL, Tabacco, and Firearms would be more like it.

Clinton and Obama Visits Suggest New Clout for Two States

Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times -- May 15, 2007

New York and New Jersey have often been bit players in the presidential nominating process, with their primaries typically occurring after the nominees have been settled upon.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Albany, where she drew several endorsements.

But the 2008 campaign may be different, with both states planning to hold their primaries on Feb. 5, when a slew of others, including California and Texas, are also holding theirs.

That may be part of the reason both Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were visiting the region yesterday to spotlight endorsements, with Mrs. Clinton getting the backing of Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York and Mr. Obama gaining the endorsements of Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark and Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City.

For the Democrats, New York has not been a major primary state since 1988, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson came in behind Michael S. Dukakis, who eventually won the nomination.

This time around, Mrs. Clinton is hoping to have the home-field advantage, and she drew many of the state?s top elected officials to her endorsement in Albany, including Mr. Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Some prominent black officials were also present, including the State Senate minority leader, Malcolm Smith, whom Bill Clinton personally wooed by taking him on a private plane ride earlier this year to Selma, Ala.

Mr. Spitzer said Mrs. Clinton was the ?one person who can bring us back, one person who has the vision, the courage, the guts, to say what has to be said, to stand up to those interests who do not like to be stood up to.?

One black legislator who did not attend the endorsement was State Senator Bill Perkins of Manhattan, an Obama supporter.

?I thought it was important to support the person I thought was best for the country, not simply the person from my state,? Mr. Perkins said.

In Trenton yesterday afternoon, Mr. Obama took part in a town meeting with union members sponsored by the A.F.L.-C.I.O., which is organizing forums across the country for Democratic presidential candidates. The candidates have their choice of cities, union officials said, and Mr. Obama selected Trenton because of its working-class community. (Senator Clinton selected Detroit for her forum, which is set for June 9.)

For more than an hour, Mr. Obama took questions from blue-collar workers on a variety of topics, including health care, trade and education. He received booming applause and a sustained standing ovation when he reminded the audience that he did not support the Iraq war.

?It is time to bring our troops home right now,? Mr. Obama said, his voice barely audible over the roaring crowd of about 700 union members.

Mr. Obama also had two fund-raisers planned for his trip to New Jersey.

The choice between Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton is weighing heavy on the minds of several voters interviewed in Trenton, including Joann Sims, 50, who works as a nurse?s aid in Newark.

?Do we choose the first woman or the first black man?? Ms. Sims said. ?It?s going to be really close, but today I?m definitely going to vote for him.?
===============================

Mayors of Newark, Jersey City endorse Obama
AFL-CIO gives the Democratic hopeful two standing ovations in Trenton

Tuesday, May 15, 2007
BY JEFFERY C. MAYS AND JOE DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama picked up the endorsements of the mayors of New Jersey's two largest cities yesterday, then went to Trenton to try to win the backing of the nation's largest labor organization.

"Barack Obama is going to help ensure that the American dream -- as bold and broad as it is -- is accessible to all Americans," Newark Mayor Cory Booker said as he and Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy welcomed the Illinois senator at Teterboro Airport.

Obama later spoke to 600 members of the New Jersey State AFL- CIO at the War Memorial building in Trenton, in one of a series of "town meetings" between presidential candidates and union members being held around the country to help the confederation make its choice for 2008.

"As long as the AFL-CIO is ready to walk with me, I'm ready to walk right beside it," Obama told the friendly crowd that gave him two standing ovations and several other rounds of applause. Nationally the AFL-CIO represents 10 million workers, while the state group alone speaks for 1 million.

"We do need a change," William Searles of Edison, a member of Local 373 of the Ironworkers Union in Perth Amboy, said after the 80-minute session with Obama. "He's a very smart man and I think he would make a great leader."

Recent polls have shown Obama trailing New York Sen. Hillary Clinton among Democratic vot ers in New Jersey, and he lags in fundraising here. An April 19 Quin nipiac University survey put him 22 percentage points behind the former first lady. It also showed Republican former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani beating either Clinton or Obama in the state.

In recent months, Gov. Jon Cor zine has thrown his support to Clinton for the Democratic nomination, while state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) has endorsed former U.S. Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.).

Asked about those endorsements during the news conference in Teterboro, Obama said: "We are in a primary. We are all on the same team and trying out for quarterback. Whoever emerges from the primary process will have a unified party behind them."

Booker and Obama are often cited as potential future leaders in the national black community. Obama said he's not taking the African-American vote for granted. "I expect to have to earn it," he said, noting former President Bill Clinton's popularity among African- American voters.

Booker added, "Gone are the days when you have one person who speaks for all African-Americans. I'm not sure they ever existed."

Healy said he supports Obama because of the candidate's belief that "urban areas should be the focus for investment."

"The future has to be focused on our cities, on our old urban areas. The reinvigoration of those cities (is) important. That's why I'm here today to voice my support for Senator Barack Obama," Healy said.

Housing, violence and a crumbling educational system are some of the toughest issues facing urban America, Obama said.

He discussed his plan for a "housing trust" that would create up to 14,000 new units of affordable housing per year and help with rehabilitation of older homes and lead abatement.

Under his administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would be re vamped and tools like federal hous ing vouchers would be funded along with efforts to create public and private partnerships, he said.

"The federal government has basically abandoned the (housing) field and left mayors holding the bag," Obama said. "The first step is to make a decision that this is something important, that it's not acceptable that somebody is working full-time in this country but they can't afford to find a place to live for themselves and their family."

Booker said he met Obama through Oprah Winfrey's best friend Gayle King and that he had a chance to get to know Obama personally. Booker and King have a close relationship. "Barack Obama is someone I've gotten to know. It was an easy choice for me to choose Senator Barack Obama," Booker said.

Obama was the third Democratic candidate to attend one of the AFL-CIO's open screening ses sions. Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Edwards already have attended similar events in other states.

In Trenton, Obama briefly spoke about the insecurities of living in a global economy where union membership is declining and well-paid jobs and fringe benefits are under siege. "What we have to make real today is the idea that in this country, we value the labor of every single American worker," he said.

He received one of two standing ovations when he touted his plan to provide universal health insurance coverage. "This is an idea whose time has come. It actually came a long time ago, but Washington didn't seem to know," he said. The other came when he urged that American troops return from Iraq by next March.

Obama went on to pledge that he will defend the right of workers to organize and seek trade and im migration policies that are fairer to American workers, particularly union members. "It's been a long time since we had a president that said unions are a good thing," he said.

Jeffrey C. Mays may be reached at jmays@starledger.com or (973) 392-4149. Joe Donohue may be reached at jdonohue@starledger.com or (609) 989-0208.

Saw this on bloomberg news:
By Terrence Dopp
May 14 (Bloomberg) -- Illinois Senator Barack Obama's run for the Democratic presidential nomination was endorsed by the mayors of New Jersey's two largest cities, his campaign said.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker and Jerramiah Healy, mayor of Jersey City, announced the endorsements today in Teterboro, New Jersey, during an event to promote Obama's plan to provide more affordable housing for low-income families. Obama is scheduled to hold a town hall-style meeting in Trenton at 3:30 p.m.

``Barack Obama has a substantive approach to our enduring national challenges,'' Booker, a black Rhodes scholar who won election last year with financial backing from Wall Street and celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, said in a statement. ``I believe he is committed to expanding access to economic abundance and opportunity.''

Obama and fellow U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a statistical tie among voters in a Rasmussen poll released today. Obama trails the former first lady 33 percent to 35 percent in the tally of 789 likely Democratic voters, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Former U.S. Senator John Edwards was third among Democratic primary voters in the Rasmussen poll, with 14 percent, and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson received 3 percent support.