“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic,” Mr. Carville said, referring to Holy Week.
The New York Times reports that Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico described a "tense telephone call" between himself and Hillary Clinton when he called to inform her that despite pleas from both her and her husband, he would be endorsing Barack Obama.
Richardson had held two senior positions during Bill Clinton's presidency, energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations, and the Clintons, especially Bill Clinton has been after Richardson's endorsement for his wife in a very public manner.
As of a few days ago, Richardson stopped returning Bill Clinton's calls and even though he spoke to Hillary Clinton to inform her of his decision, he still has not spoken to Bill about his endorsement of Obama.
His words when he announced his endorsement were potentially harmful to the Clinton run for the nominations when he said, "I’m not going to advise any other candidate when to get in and out of the race. Senator Clinton has a right to stay in the race, but eventually we don’t want to go into the Democratic convention bloodied. This was another reason for my getting in and endorsing, the need to perhaps send a message that we need unity."
This endorsement led to James Carville, who is a friend of Bill Clinton's and an adviser to Hillary to call the Richardson endorsement of Obama and "act of betrayal," and then he went on to compare him with Judas, who sold out Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
Richardson says the phone call between Hillary and himself was "cordial, but a little heated".
Mr. Richardson said he was dispirited by the tone of the Democratic nominating fight, reflecting a sentiment that has been increasingly voiced by party leaders. Unlike many others, though, Mr. Richardson placed the blame on Mrs. Clinton.
“I believe the campaign has gotten too negative,” Mr. Richardson said, speaking to reporters in Portland. “I want it to be positive. I think that’s what’s been very good about Senator Obama’s campaign — it’s a positive campaign about hope and opportunity.”
Many believe this was a big blow to the Clinton campaign, especially since Richardson is also a superdelegate and this makes the number of supers reach 62 who have endorsed Obama since Feb. 5, compared with fewer than five who have moved into Mrs. Clinton’s column since then.
In the meantime, today, like every day it seems, there has been more negativity and controversy, over words that Bill Clinton said, to which and Obama aide responded and to which Hillary tried to "explain", which was in the news this morning and which I wrote about in a previous piece, found here.
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