Activist endorses Obama
One of the biggest liberal fund-raisers in the country, who also is among the most important Democratic activists in New Hampshire, yesterday endorsed Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm in Londonderry, said Obama was the one candidate who could appeal to both Democrats and Republicans alike.
"This guy can heal a divided nation," Hirshberg said on a conference call with reporters. Stonyfield is an organic dairy specializing in yogurt and known for environmental activism.
The endorsement came a week after Hirshberg held a house party for Obama at his Concord home. He said that his choice came down to Obama and John Edwards.
He said that he had a long conversation with Elizabeth Edwards yesterday.
"This is not to be interpreted as a negative on John Edwards," Hirshberg said, but he added that what "moved my needle" in recent days was finishing Obama's book "The Auducity of Hope," watching Obama interact over dinner with the soccer team Hirshberg coaches, and hearing Republicans say they are interested in Obama.
"I thought that no matter how tortured I was [in deciding between Obama and Edwards], I was not going to sit on the fence," Hirshberg said.
Previously, Hirshberg endorsed former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack for president, but Vilsack dropped out of the race. In 2004, he endorsed former Vermont governor Howard Dean.
The former New York mayor is lavishing attention on Florida and California, two delegate-rich states with voters far more receptive to his moderate-to-liberal views. Giuliani is not slighting the early voting states -- he plans to be in New Hampshire today and tomorrow -- but it's his first trip there in a month.
So while Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Sam Brownback were in Iowa last week, Giuliani visited a deli in Orlando, Fla., a town-hall meeting in Jacksonville, and a NASCAR race in Daytona Beach. The week before, he turned up at a bagel shop in Irvine, Calif.
Some speculate that Giuliani is deliberately lowering expectations for his performance in Iowa, New Hampshire, and another early voting state, South Carolina. Already, he is skipping an early test of strength, the Iowa straw poll in August, although his campaign insists he will compete in the Jan. 14 caucuses. Recent polls have shown Giuliani trailing Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Political experts question the wisdom of such a strategy, wondering how a candidate who doesn't win or finish strongly in the early states can challenge someone else's momentum and recover on Feb. 5.
Traditionally, Republicans fiercely compete in the early contests and then turn their attention to other states. Even John McCain, bypassing Iowa when he ran against George W. Bush in 2000, fought hard in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Giuliani is not devoting the same level of staff or resources in those states as other candidates. (AP) 