In a move that I am puzzled to figure out, Hillary Clinton today named Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL), a former Federal judge who was impeached and removed on corruption charges, a national co-chair of her presidential campaign today.
I'm no Hillary hater, but the wisdom of this move is certainly debatable. It certainly sends the wrong message with regard to changing the culture of corruption in Washington.
The campaign press release announcing this is here: http://www.hillaryclinton.com/...
and Hastings' Wilipedia entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/...
While Hastings endorsed Clinton several months ago, naming him a national co-chair is something new. As I see it, the move shows that Clinton is placing an emphasis on the January 29 Florida primary, a view bolstered by the fact that Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL) was also named as a national co-chair. The problem with this strategy is that the ultimate outcome of the debate over the outside the window Florida primary is not settled. Unless the Clinton campaign has counted the votes at the DNC and figured that they will prevail on any rules dispute over Florida's primary, it is far from clear that the Florida primary will occur as scheduled or that candidates will not be penalized for campaigning there.
As for the Hastings appointment itself, I think it was unwise. Hastings is a lightning rod for criticism, as demonstrated by the debate after the 2006 elections over whether Speaker Pelosi would name him head of the Intelligence Committee. For a candidate accused of looking too much toward the general election, the appointment of Hastings seems odd. Out of all the House Democrats out there, and she has a number of endorsements, why would she choose to name an impeached and removed former Federal judge as a national co-chair of her campaign? It makes no sense apart from Florida politics and detracts from a message that she would bring real change to Washington if elected. It's going to be hard for her to attack the GOP for corruption if one of her campaign co-chairs has a poor track record in that department.