Friday, January 18, 2013

Mayors hail Hillary Clinton for 2016




The goodwill for Clinton can be traced to how she handled the aftermath of her 2008 run. | AP Photo


By KEVIN ROBILLARD | 1/18/13 6:55 AM EST


Even before President Barack Obama starts his second term, some of the nation’s Democratic mayors have come close to settling on his successor: Hillary Clinton.

Mayors interviewed by POLITICO at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., were effusive about the secretary of state, although some waved off questions about 2016. While few were ready to commit to her candidacy before she has even left Foggy Bottom, their praise leaves little doubt about Clinton’s level of support from local officials.


And of course, Clinton needs to decide to run before she can get an endorsement.

“She says she’s too tired to run,” said Frank Ortis, the Democratic mayor of Pembroke Pines, Fla. “I’ve known the first lady for a long time, the secretary. And if that’s her choice, God love her, she’s done so much. She’s traveled more than anyone. But I do love her as a leader. If she were to run, I would support her. I just think she’s so tired.”

Clinton also earned praise from the mayor of the second-largest city in an early primary state.

“She would be a very fine candidate,” said Joe Riley Jr. of Charleston, S.C., the nation’s longest-serving mayor, having been in office since 1975. “Always you wait to see who the candidates are, but I’m a great admirer of Secretary Clinton. She’s been a fabulous secretary of state. Amazing.”

Riley endorsed President Barack Obama in the 2008 primary.

The praise of Clinton from the mayoral ranks matches her early support from rank-and-file Democrats. A December ABC/Washington Post poll found 57 percent of Americans want her to run in 2016. An overwhelming 61 percent of Democrats said Clinton was their top choice in a Public Policy Polling survey the same month.

Much of the goodwill for Clinton can be traced to that unsuccessful 2008 run — which gave her the opportunity to meet mayors from across the nation — and how she handled its aftermath.

“She has served with great distinction,” Gary, Ind., Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said. “She took a hit [four years ago] when she did not get the nomination, but did she it with such grace and dignity, that it would be hard for her not to be picked. I would be glad to support her.”

Mayor Raul Salinas of Laredo, Texas, endorsed Clinton in 2008, during a campaign in which she visited the border city of 200,000.

“I think with her background, her vast experience, I mean, she is an all-around, well-seasoned, somebody that would do an outstanding, a remarkable, I don’t have enough adjectives to say, she would be a brilliant president,” Salinas said. “I think she’s wonderful, she’s wonderful. Look what she’s done in her capacity, the confidence the president has in her; she has done an amazing job.”

He added later: “When you open up the dictionary and see ‘statesman,’ you see Hillary Rodham Clinton on that stage.”

But Salinas called POLITICO later to praise another potential 2016 contender who had just addressed the mayors: Vice President Joe Biden.

“I think it’s kind of premature, we have to make sure, the president, he just started his second term, it’s a long time down the road,” he said. “We have a good core of people that would be able to lead this country. [I also] can’t take anything away from Vice President Joe Biden. Wow, the experience he has, a good working relationship with local people.”

Katie Glueck contributed to this report.


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