Former Virginia Governor (and current Richmond Mayor) Doug Wilder gave an interview with the Politico which all but endorsed Barack Obama for president.
L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, who made history as the nation's first elected black governor, is preparing to campaign aggressively for Barack Obama, and predicted in an interview that the charismatic young candidate could shatter the Republican Party's virtual lock on the South.
"He's not race-less," Wilder said of Obama, "but the skin color is of no moment. I don't think he would be an easy target for the Republicans."
More on Wilder's thoughts on the 2008 campaign after the jump.
The Politico suggests Wilder's comments are atypical and significant.
The unstinting embrace by Wilder, now the mayor of Richmond, could be important in Virginia and other southern states, where his reputation still looms large and the African-American vote could prove decisive in the Democratic nominating contest.
His lavish praise was also surprising. Wilder's frequent practice has been to haze fellow Democrats, either with public digs or a mischievous silence, if he believed they had not paid their dues or could challenge him for influence.
While Wilder has not made an endorsement and has had good things to say about both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton (he said he will make an official endorsement in the fall), the Politico notes he was "notably cool toward Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton. He said that Clinton's explanations of her 2002 vote authorizing the Iraq war make no sense and that her polarizing personality makes her less electable than Obama in Virginia and similar moderate states."
"I've had several conversations with Obama," Wilder said. "Mrs. Clinton called when she was here, and I returned her call the next day or so, but we haven't talked. I haven't endorsed anybody yet, but I will."
"I don't see any downfall with either of them. But I've been tremendously impressed with Obama. ... He has the ability to be a uniter, more so than she. I think the country is tired of the 'us' and 'thems.'"
"The question keeps coming about Hillary, as polarizing as she is: Would she be the best candidate?" Wilder said. "People would probably disagree, but today, I think Obama would have the best chance of winning in a general election because he doesn't carry any baggage."
As to why Clinton is seen as polarizing, he said: "She's fine one on one. But when there's a group, she's a little drawn, a little reserved and somewhat testy — not relaxed."
Wilder went on to call Clinton's record on Iraq "lame" and criticized her for not being straightforward on the issue.
That said, Wilder also claims he respects Clinton and could see her and Obama on the same ticket. His endorsement, though, sounds like it will be Obama's, given that Wilder is already defending him on the experience question.
Wilder flashed annoyance when he recalled conversations with people who say Obama "is a nice man — he's got a lot to learn."
"That's a put-down," Wilder said firmly. "What has he got to learn?"
Both Wilder and Governor Tim Kaine think the Democrats could win Virginia in a general election, and that Obama would be a formidable candidate in the state.
Virginia, once dependable for Republicans in presidential elections, has been moving inexorably toward toss-up status and is one of roughly nine states that Democrats are targeting as potential flips in 2008. "It's not a knee-jerk state," Wilder said. "It's not a red state — my God."
Gov. Tim Kaine, a Democrat who has endorsed Obama,said in an interview in his office on Friday: "Virginia is changing. It's not a one-party state anymore."
Wilder concluded that his own experiences in Virginia indicate Southerners are capable of voting for Barack Obama.
Wilder recalled that he was told that rural whites would never vote for him. "'Lo and behold, I started going up into the mountains with those mountaineers and coal miners," he said. "They embraced me — wouldn't let me go. Some of the strongest support I had. And that's why I feel today that Americans are fair-minded people."
There's more to the interview at the link above (Wilder expands on his criticism of Clinton and the Iraq war at some length), but that's the sense of Wilder's comments. Wilder is a prickly and often unpredictable man -- he infamously has supported George Allen in the past -- so his support of Obama's campaign is by no means reflexive or automatic. It indicates Obama is a viable candidate in Virginia -- a must-win state for the GOP in 2008.