Pelosi Backs Emanuel for Obama’s Senate Seat
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on June 10th, 2008 4:40 am by HL
Pelosi Backs Emanuel for Obama’s Senate Seat
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “is reported to be privately talking about Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the House Democratic Caucus chairman, as the next senator from Illinois if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidential election,” according to Robert Novak.
“The same source said Pelosi indicated that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer would be her eventual successor as speaker, even though she opposed his election to the second-ranking leadership position. Emanuel has been widely mentioned as the speaker of the next decade.”
The Race to Solidify the Base
As they gear up their general election campaigns, the first goal for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain is to shore up support among base voters — a task made more difficult by tough primary fights.
USA Today notes Obama “at last has won the endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton, the woman who came closer to the Democratic presidential nomination than any other. Now he has to win over her millions of female supporters.” The main reason: “Four years ago, women made up more than half the electorate.”
Meanwhile, one of McCain’s biggest challenges, according to the New York Times, is the “continued wariness toward him among evangelicals and other Christian conservatives, a critical voting bloc for Republicans that could stay home in the fall or at least be decidedly unenthusiastic in their efforts to get out the vote.”
But the Washington Post notes one complication for both campaigns: “McCain and Obama offer a rare combination of nominees able to poach on the other party’s turf. Both have proven appeal to independents. McCain will target disgruntled Clinton supporters; Obama will target disaffected Republicans. Women, Latinos and, especially, white working-class voters will find themselves courted intensely by the two campaigns.”
June 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am
[…] Caucus chairman, as the next senator from Illinois if Sen. Barack Obama wins the presidentialhttp://www.thehollywoodliberal.com/2008/06/10/pelosi-backs-emanuel-for-obamas-senate-seat/Sen. John McCain to visit Richmond, McLean WDBJ 7 RoanokeRICHMOND, Va. AP — Arizona senator john […]