Just a month after terminating his own campaign for President, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has endorsed Hillary Clinton. This actually took me as a surprise to hear this. Vilsack, who has voiced that the troops should be removed from Iraq immediately is in a sense a polar opposite to Hillary on the issue. Clinton voted for the war and to this day refuses to call her vote a mistake. If he was really wanting the troops to come home now, it would have been in his best interest to endorse Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich the 6 term congressman from Ohio voted against the war in Iraq and has voted against every appropriation, including being one of only 14 democrats to do so this past Friday.
Well I guess you can see Vilsack's thinking as he has now placed himself the front runner as vice president nominee if Clinton would secure the nomination. But it is a shame that to most in politics, personal gain means more that fighting the good fight.
Despite his vocal opposition to the war, his record in Iowa was fairly moderate. He had ties to Clinton through the centrist DLC, so I don't think its just about his own personal gain (though he clearly holds higher goals).
ReplyDeleteA lot of people think his endorsement makes him a likely vp, but his poor campaign showing should also hurt his chances. If anything, I think he's playing for a cabinet spot or ambassadorship.
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