Opinion: Another California mayor goes with Clinton

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Hillary Clinton’s endorsement bandwagon took on another passenger this afternoon--Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.

The Oakland native, ex-Marine and 28-year veteran of the U.S. House representing Oakland and Berkeley, who took his city office last January, said he ‘thought long and hard’ about the endorsement and finally concluded ‘that our country needs Hillary’s strength and experience to lead us forward.’ He said he was determined to work not only for her party nomination but to win the White House. Dellums, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, will chair the campaign’s Urban Policy Committee.

Clinton had pursued the African American’s endorsement for months, including incorporating some of his ideas in her urban policy program. Several veterans of Bill Clinton’s White House staff now work in Dellums’ office.

For her part Clinton said she wasn’t surprised by the Dellums endorsement and already had so many she couldn’t keep track of them all. No, just kidding. In the predictable prose of such political pronouncements, she said she was ‘honored’ and ‘delighted’ to receive the support of her ‘long-time friend’ who is ‘a national leader widely recognized for his creative solutions and innovative approaches to the challenges facing our cities.’

The endorsement came during a joint visit to a vocational classroom at Laney College in Oakland.

--Andrew Malcolm