Ray Nagin (Superdelegate) Comes out for Obama

Just heard on MSNBC.  Nagin just got the superdelegate slot over Mitch Landrieu last week.

BATON ROUGE -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, who defeated Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu for the city's top job two years ago, beat him again Saturday.

At a meeting of the Democratic State Central Committee, Nagin was elected as a superdelegate to the Democratic Party's presidential nominating convention.

The committee picked Nagin over four other candidates, including Landrieu. Nagin won 83 votes, Jerry McKernan of Baton Rouge had 50 and Landrieu had 28.

Nagin will be one of 10 Louisiana superdelegates to the convention. Like the others, he does not need to pledge his support to a candidate beforehand, although both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been actively courting superdelegates nationwide.

Still looking for confirmation online...

Update [2008-5-13 10:48:50 by IntertubeGuy]:DemConWatch it now up now.

"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Senator Obama worked to help address the needs of our Gulf Coast communities. As the Gulf Coast continues to rebuild, other cities have faced tragic disasters across this country. Therefore, it is critical that this country's infrastructure and emergency response systems are evaluated and rebuilt to sustain our cities and protect our families. What happened in Louisiana should never happen again.

I have learned firsthand that a unified constituency can make what seems impossible, possible. Senator Obama represents a new generation of leadership, one that can help heal the divisions of the past and unify this country so that together we can build a stronger future. - Ray Nagin

•  That's two so far today...

  Tips?

  by IntertubeGuy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:14:01 AM PDT

•  I assume Nagin's an add-on. n/t

  by jim bow on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:14:12 AM PDT

•  What's going on today?

  Is Obama really that smart? (That's snark! Of course he is.)

  So by the end of the day, Hil nets 10 in SVA and he nets 10 supers?

  Possible? If O isn't doing it, perhaps we should up the pressure.

  BTW, Nagin is actually a really good catch because he's more DINO than Clinton in economic policy.

  by MrMichaelMT on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:15:04 AM PDT

•  Can we keep this on the DL?

  Because the way he handled -- and acted during --Hurrican Katrina was criminal -- and it's really obscene that this guy is still mayor.

  by Slatersan on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:16:01 AM PDT

  •  Yeah, however I did enjoy the news clip of

    him saying.."get off your asses and get down here." just cuz it's nice to hear a pol say asses on the news.

    by JNSD on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:19:37 AM PDT

  •  90 day DL and he'll be back for Denver...n/t

    by Kab ibn al Ashraf on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:19:42 AM PDT

  •  Say what you will about Nagin

    No one handled the Katrina disaster particularly well. But Ray Nagin was faced with a nearly impossible job to do, and he was completely handicapped without help from the higher levels of government.  The most effective thing he did was get on the radio with Garland Robinette and plead for help, which for many Americans crystallized how bad it actually was--that was a heartbreaking interview for me to listen to.

    As for the buses, if Nagin said there was no one to drive them, I can take him at his word. "Chocolate City?" A tempest in a teapot.

    I would certainly not call his actions criminal. I might say he handled the crisis ineffectively. But who among the nation's mayors would have been able to effectively deal with a disaster of that magnitude? Not to mention the aftermath, which is a civic challenge that is beyond the capacity of any one man to handle.

    Regardless, Mayor Nagin made the right decision today to support Barack Obama, who will see to it that New Orleans finally gets the long overdue help that it sorely needs.

    by ekthesy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:38:37 AM PDT

    •  I don't want to start a whole thing on this

      because this thread is not about Nagin, but if you really think he had an "impossible job to do", you should read Douglas Brinkley's book "The Great Deluge." You'll never look at Ray Nagin as anything but a criminal after that. He's just as indolent and incompetent as Dubya.

      by Slatersan on Tue May 13, 2008 at 08:30:34 AM PDT

      •  I promise I will read it.

        I just placed it on hold at the local library. Douglas Brinkley is a superb historian. Thanks for the tip.

        by ekthesy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 08:43:57 AM PDT

•  Man you posted this so fast, unless

  MSNBC takes time to confirm, cause they just announced, 5 min before I wrote this.

  by Excelscior1 on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:18:08 AM PDT

•  Dumping SD's to counter big WV win...smart.

  by David Kroning on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:18:44 AM PDT

  •  Yeah. I was thinking how much will he have

    by tonight, and post tommorow, to dampen the W. Virgina count/Hillary?

    by Excelscior1 on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:22:22 AM PDT

    •  WV has 39 delegates.

      I'm not sure how they're apportioned. But if Clinton wins two-thirds of the vote, that's a 13-delegate pickup for her. Assuming Obama comes out with 4 supers a day, her gains tonight from WV will be gone by the time I hit the beach this weekend.

      by ekthesy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:40:46 AM PDT

      •  Actually, only 28 delegates.

        11 of the 39 member delegation are supers, so clinton will pick up only 9-10 pledged delegates.

        by IntertubeGuy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:47:21 AM PDT

•  Watch Clinton bash him

  Though Clinton sought Nagin's endorsement, watch the Clintonites downplay it by saying:

  1. He's black!!!

  2. He was a failure in Katrina!

  3. We didn't want him anyway!

  by Elrod on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:21:33 AM PDT

  •  Um

    Item No. 2 is pretty much true. Not that I'm unhappy about his support, but just sayin'.

    by gracchus on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:24:07 AM PDT

    •  Everyone failed New Orleans

      Nagin, in my opinion, doesn't deserve singling out.

      by ekthesy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:41:47 AM PDT

      •  Hmmm

        Because there was plenty of blame to go 'round we shouldn't make ANY the people involved accountable? Not sure about that. Think that they should perhaps ALL be held accountable. That would avoid singling anyone out. Just mentioned Nagin here without cursing out the other guilty parties because someone brought his name up.

        by gracchus on Tue May 13, 2008 at 08:06:13 AM PDT

        •  That's fine

          I'm glad you recognized that "all should be held accountable," which I completely agree with.

          Obviously, this is a Nagin diary, so we're talking about Nagin. Katrina is an important part of his biography, but I think it's equally important that he not be singled out without mentioning Bush, FEMA, Blanco, etc. who were arguably larger failures than Nagin.

          by ekthesy on Tue May 13, 2008 at 08:16:49 AM PDT

•  The first thing he's done I can approve of

  since he screamed at Garland Robinette about the "goddamned disgrace" in '05.

  BTW, that radio encounter is available as a handy keychain.  It's one of Emenation's In Your Pocket series.

  by Crashing Vor on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:22:22 AM PDT

•  This would appear to say more about Mitch

  Landrieu than it does about Nagin. As in Anybody But Landrieu?

  by JFinNe on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:23:08 AM PDT

  •  I'm not crazy about Mitch

    but he would've made a better mayor than Nagin.  I voted for Landrieu, by the way.  sigh.

    by nolalily on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:57:54 AM PDT

•  Remember this gem?

  "We as black people, it's time, it's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans. And I don't care what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day."

  Source

  by HairyTrueMan on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:36:32 AM PDT

•  At The Page

  It says Roy Romer was going to be on Obama's call at 11 am EST. Last I looked, he was still undeclared too (a former DNC Chair). So why be on the call unless you're endorsing???

  by jbalazs on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:36:48 AM PDT

•  DCW Quote on Endorsement

  "In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Senator Obama worked to help address the needs of our Gulf Coast communities. As the Gulf Coast continues to rebuild, other cities have faced tragic disasters across this country. Therefore, it is critical that this country's infrastructure and emergency response systems are evaluated and rebuilt to sustain our cities and protect our families. What happened in Louisiana should never happen again.

  I have learned firsthand that a unified constituency can make what seems impossible, possible. Senator Obama represents a new generation of leadership, one that can help heal the divisions of the past and unify this country so that together we can build a stronger future. - Ray Nagin

  http://demconwatch.blogspot.com/...

  by JeremiahTheMessiah on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:44:09 AM PDT

•  That's pretty much the definition...

  ... of a "mixed blessing".

  A lot of folks in NO don't much care for old Ray these days;  considering where he tends to spend his time since Katrina, they might prefer him being mayor of Dallas.

  by tbetz on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:51:15 AM PDT

•  Mitch probably

  would have been a Clinton guy although I think that, if he knew himself better, he'd be for Obama.

  by nolalily on Tue May 13, 2008 at 07:56:22 AM PDT