The New York Times-20080124-Clinton Is Endorsed by Pennsylvania Governor
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Clinton Is Endorsed by Pennsylvania Governor
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tended to her political backyard on Wednesday in anticipation of New Jersey's critical presidential primary on Feb. 5, picking up a major endorsement and headlining a fund-raiser and two lively rallies.
Mrs. Clinton began the day a few miles from South Jersey, at Philadelphia's City Hall, where she was endorsed by Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania, a popular figure in the region.
The Pennsylvania primary is not until April 22, but Clinton and Rendell advisers say they believe his support might carry over positively to nearby Democrats in New Jersey and Delaware.
The Clinton years certainly had a dramatic effect on the trajectory of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, Mr. Rendell said, referring to former President Bill Clinton, who was among those who had courted him for the endorsement. I'm willing to do anything I can in South Jersey and the state and Delaware between now and Feb. 5.
He praised Mrs. Clinton's two major rivals, Senator Barack Obama and John Edwards, but said she was the best suited to run the country from the first day in office.
Mr. Rendell is a longtime friend of the Clintons and a chairman of the Democratic National Committee under Mr. Clinton. At the committee, he proved to be a prodigious fund-raiser; in 2000, under his watch, the committee accepted $15,000 from Tony Rezko, a Chicago businessman who was once a fund-raiser and friend of Mr. Obama and who is now scheduled for trial on federal charges of business fraud.
Mrs. Clinton made a connection between Mr. Rezko and Mr. Obama on Monday in a televised debate, criticizing her rival for associating with a slum landlord.
The Clinton campaign had no comment on the Rezko-Rendell connection.
At the first rally in Hackensack, which drew a couple of thousand people, Mrs. Clinton invoked the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks -- a reference she rarely makes in a political context -- as she described her work on behalf of not only New Yorkers but also New Jersey residents.
After 9/11, we worked so closely together to make sure we took care of those who lost their loved ones, to rebuild, Mrs. Clinton said. I'm so proud that our two states showed such courage and such resilience in the face of such horror.
