Posted by
Playful Walrus on Monday, March 03, 2008 6:13:00 PM
The Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Duke Helfand has this piece on Mayor Tony Villar, officially know as Antonio Villaraigosa (Raigosa being his ex-wife’s name). This guy tries to be the Latino Obama. He is usually constantly at photo ops and tries to smooth through everything. As if the City of Los Angeles Mayor didn’t have enough to do already, he tried to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District, which includes many other cities in addition to L.A.
Lately, though, he’s been out of the city a lot, stumping for Hillary Clinton. You need to know about this guy, because if he’s going to try to be the Governor of California (Hillary will no doubt campaign for him if she is President), or will try to get a position in a Clinton administration.
For more than 2 1/2 years, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been the public face of Los Angeles, appearing in one neighborhood after the next and often leading the nightly news.
But over the last two months, he has devoted noticeable time and energy to a cause outside the city. By today, the mayor will have spent 18 of the last 65 days on the road for presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) -- visiting Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and Texas as the primary election season has intensified.
I wonder if Obama will take him in should Hillary bow out?
Deputy Mayor Sean Clegg said Villaraigosa views the Clinton campaign as an investment in the city's future. A Democratic president, the mayor believes, would concentrate money and attention on the needs of big cities.
"The mayor said it many times: This is the most important presidential election in his lifetime," Clegg said.
Isn’t that always the case? It’s like saying “This year’s group on American Idol is the most talented ever!”, or “The most shocking rose ceremony ever!”
Villaraigosa has become one of Clinton's most loyal and effective voices on the stump, a prominent Latino politician who has drawn crowds in Las Vegas, San Antonio and other heavily Latino areas. Since October, he has visited Nevada five times, Iowa three times, Texas twice and New Hampshire once, according to a schedule provided by his office.
His tireless efforts have not gone unnoticed by Clinton, who singled out Villaraigosa after she won Nevada's Democratic caucuses in January. The mayor has been talked about as a potential Cabinet nominee in a Clinton White House, although he has said privately that he has no interest in such a job.
On the stump, Villaraigosa travels with a press deputy from his City Hall staff and members of the Los Angeles Police Department security detail that accompanies him around the clock whether he is in the city or away.
The mayor's office said the Clinton campaign covers the cost of flights and hotels for him and his press aide, but the two pick up their food expenses. The city typically pays the travel, hotel and food costs for the LAPD officers, according to police spokeswoman Mary Grady. On three occasions in the fall, the Clinton campaign paid hotel and airfare expenses for the officers before those involved realized that the city covers the costs.
The two press aides who trade off campaign swings -- Matt Szabo and Janelle Erickson -- use their vacation time as well as personal cellphones on the trips because they are barred by city and state law from engaging in political work on the job.
It’s all scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.
I’m so happy that I don’t live or work in the City of Los Angeles.