By Jim Tankersley Washington Bureau 8:48 PM CST, February 13, 2008WASHINGTON—He made his name in politics, but when David Wilhelm talks about his newest campaign, the venture capitalist in him comes out.
What made him pass over Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y)—the wife of his most famous client—to endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Wednesday for the Democratic presidential nomination? Several reasons, said the man who managed Bill Clinton's winning 1992 White House run, starting with this: comparative advantage.
In economics, "comparative advantage" is the theory that countries should specialize in the goods they can produce most efficiently when compared to other countries. In politics, as Wilhelm wields the term, it means political parties should nominate the candidate whom voters perceive as having the clearest edge over the rival nominee on a critical issue.
On Clinton's signature issue, experience, Wilhelm said neither she nor Obama can ever trump presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, the four-term senator from Arizona. But on Obama's signature issue, change, Wilhelm believes Democrats win big.
"This," he said, "is a change election."
Wilhelm was born in Ohio but built his political career in Illinois, where he ran winning campaigns for Sen. Paul Simon, Mayor Richard Daley and, later, Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Early on he teamed with a finance whiz named Rahm Emanuel, who went on to work with him on the Clinton campaign and today chairs the House Democratic Caucus.
"David is loved and beloved," Emanuel said. "He's just a very decent human being." Asked about Wilhelm's political skills, he replied, "Look at his record."
After the '92 victory, President Clinton tapped Wilhelm to head the Democratic National Committee, where he served two years until he fell out of favor with the White House—and the 1994 "Republican Revolution" knocked Democrats out of power on Capitol Hill.
In recent years Wilhelm returned to his native state to launch venture capital firms that target companies in depressed rural areas that don't see much investment otherwise. He marched through Ohio's Appalachian hills with Jesse Jackson in the name of economic development and nurtured start-ups in struggling small towns. "We're making a difference," Wilhelm said in an interview Wednesday.
It's that sort of idealism that led him to Obama, after a brief stint advising Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden's Democratic presidential campaign. Working for Biden in Iowa, Wilhelm said, "you couldn't help but be impressed" by the energy and passion of Obama's supporters, particularly young people.
Obama, he said, could give Democrats a greater opportunity to push their ideals than they had under Bill Clinton, who won with 44 percent of the vote in a three-way election. Obama, he said, "has the potential to build a real majority for change that was maybe beyond what we could accomplish at that point in history.
"After decades of appeals to selfishness," he added, "I really think Americans are ready for a new appeal to the common good… [Obama] is so clearly tapping into some kind of yearning or craving or thirsting for the idea that we are better together than we are alone."
His endorsement of Obama puts Wilhelm at odds with some old friends, including Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, whom he advised in the 2006 campaign and who now backs Sen. Clinton in the presidential race. And of course, the Clintons, whom Wilhelm says he is not as close to these days as he is to Obama. Asked Wednesday how his relationship was with the former president, Wilhelm replied: "It's probably not very good today."
David Wilhelm, who was Bill Clinton’s campaign chairman in 1992, 
has endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president.
Mr. Wilhelm lives and works in Ohio, which will be a major battleground for the Democratic candidates come March 4.
After Mr. Wilhelm helped him win the election, Mr. Clinton made Mr. Wilhelm the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Now a venture capitalist who focuses on neglected regions of the country, Mr. Wilhelm is also a superdelegate and said he expected the Obama campaign would want him to get on the phone to lobby other superdelegates.
He said in a conference call today that Mr. Obama was more electable than Senator Hillary Clinton. Mr. Obama’s campaign is evidence of his leadership, he said, calling it “masterful.”
“He has out-worked her, out-organized her and out-raised her,” Mr. Wilhelm said. “I know organizational excellence when I see it, and the Obama campaign, win or lose, will serve as a model” of execution of strategy, message discipline, application of new technology and small-donor fund raising.
No comments:
Post a Comment