Vilsacks to endorse HRC

Just back from a trip to Europe and when I say just back, I mean the plane landed an hour ago…and the friend who picked me up at the airport said there was news here:  Tom Vilsack is endorsing Hillary Clinton tomorrow.

Checked with a couple of people and confirmed it’s not just former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack but his wife, Christie, too, who will be endorsing the former First Lady tomorrow.  Christie’s brother was an attorney and a friend of Hillary Clinton’s — and Hillary Clinton campaigned on behalf of Tom Vilsack when Tom Vilsack first ran for governor in 1998.  During an interview with Radio Iowa a couple of weeks ago, HRC mentioned the Tom Bell connection (I believe Tom Bell was Christie Bell Vilsack’s brother; he was killed in a bicycling accident). 

As you may recall, Tom Vilsack dropped out of the race for the Democratic Party’s 2008 presidential nomination a couple of weeks ago — saying he couldn’t raise the money to remain competitive.  He brushed aside questions about which candidate he might endorse, saying he hadn’t had time to think about it.  His mind’s made up now and just like four years ago Tom Vilsack and his wife are endorsing the same candidate.  In the 2004 campaign, then-Governor Tom Vilsack refrained from endorsing a Democratic presidential candidate before the Iowa Caucuses, but his wife did with a flourish of her long winter coat sweeping down the west steps of the statehouse on a wintry day with John Kerry alongside.

After the Iowa Caucuses, Tom Vilsack flew to Missouri to endorse Kerry during an event held there.

According to Tom and Christie Vilsack, their first conversation when they met was about presidential politics. Now, with tomorrow’s announcement, they’ll be starting another conversation with Iowans about voting for someone else for president. 

For the curious, the brief bits of news I saw and heard in Europe did not focus on the presidential race in the U.S.  Instead, there was live coverage of the United Nations debate about Iran’s nuclear capabilities…and American television standards like "Sanford and Son" and "Walker, Texas Ranger" in Italian as well as "Pimp My Ride" with Italian subtitles.