Former L.A. mayor, Republican Richard Riordan backs Barack Obama

With many of the predictable big name endorsements already made or, well, predictable, both presidential campaigns have started raiding each other's camps for new supporters.

The Barack Obama campaign has just announced that former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan is endorsing their guy as "the kind of leader we need to get us through these tough economic times." Riordan is a longtime Republican in, shall we say, the maverick mold.

As the Ticket reported earlier today, Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a large, no, make that major political and financial supporter of Hillary Clinton, announced her support for John McCain; earlier this year she had said, "Frankly, I don't like [Obama]. I feel like he is an elitist." De Rothschild has been a member of the Democratic National Convention Platform Committee.

Campaigns often stash these endorsements for the best release timing and countering De Rothschild's unexpected step with another cross-party sign-up makes strategic sense, if you're keeping score, as these campaigns do pathologically.

In a news release, the Democrat's campaign quoted Riordan as saying, "Obama is clearly the best candidate." Riordan is scheduled to appear at the opening of Obama offices in Santa Monica this evening.

-- Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[HelloAgain]

How can Rothschild even talk about elitism?

I don't care who she endorrses, I just don't get the comment.

[DWaybe]

Lynn De Rothschild is a racist war monger that would NEVER back a black man. She will ONLY back racist war mongers like Magoo or The queen of Lies. She has to back Clinton. After all the Clinton's did bomb Kosovo so the jews could occupy that most Holy Christian land.

[gerald]

A member of the of Rothschild banking empire calling Obama elitist? I take Riordan's endorsement any day.

[M Wright]

That interview was a waste of airtime...The Lynne Rothchild of the elitist Secret Society family for total control of the wealth and masses and a One World Government caslling Obama elitist...

[steve rodriguez]

Sen. Obama loves to play the race card, "did I mention that he's black!" Sure he's going to unite us all, my foot!

[sensiblegal]

This Lynn "fool" Rothschild is a racist idiot.. She never really answered why is that Barack Obama is elitist.. She just said in no uncertain words, she is not voting for a well qualified, educated black person.. That's all this is.. She is not fooling anyone.. Stupid people.. Stupid people with money..

[Rodolfo Acuna]

It is hypocritical for "de Rothschild" to call anyone elitist. I have been around the civil rights movement for over forty years and have never heard of her walking the streets of East LA, South Central or South Chicago. She flaunts the "de" Rothschild label to make a point. It becomes a title like doctor -- only she did not earn it.

[shir]

Hooray for Riordan! Let's hope EVERY American thinks and votes as wisely. McCain now wants to fire the SEC Chairman. McCain has a hair-trigger temper as a psychologically disturbed, post-traumatic-disordered candidate. For McCain, it is "Bomb, bomb, Iran!" "Drill, baby, drill!" and "Fire, everyone, fire!" When he slimes Obama, he is in fact the pot calling the faucet black. The McCain-Pain ticket is, even according to Rove, who wrote the book on slime politics, too dirty by far. Their lies, trashy hypocricy, clear power-corrupt past, cronyism, corrupt-money-driven, fear-mongering,obbyists-run campaign, in which McSlime steals every (rhetorical) line from Obama--Change! Enough! Washington needs to be reformed, etc--can only be bought by voters who either will never vote for a black man or who are persuaded by the sheer magnitude of the lies. Even conservatives like David Brooks, acknowledge that Palin is completely unfit to be VP and soon President, when the near-dementia 72-year-old, chronically angry, and endless-war McBush dies in office.