Koch endorses Obama, says Palin is "scary"

[HAL 9000 96]

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who endorsed and worked for George W. Bush in 2004, is endorsing Obama today, NY1 first reported.

I asked Koch just now what prompted the move.

"The designation of Palin to be vice president," he said. "She's scary."

He said he was alarmed by the report that she'd triggered a conflict with the local librarian in Wasilla, Alaska by inquiring about the possibility of banning books.

"Any time someone goes to the library and says, 'I want to ban books,' and the librarian says 'no,' and she threatens to fire them -- that's scary," he said.

(Palin at the time said she was just inquiring about the library's policy on banning books, with no aim of actually banning any. "It was a rhetorical quesiton -- nothing more," the McCain-Palin campaign said in a memo yesterday. And no books were banned, the town says.)

In an endorsement statement, Koch wrote that "the issue for me is who will best protect and defend America" and that both parties were strong on terrorism.

I have concluded that the country is safer in the hands of Barack Obama, leader of the Democratic Party and protector of the philosophy of that party. Protecting and defending the U.S. means more than defending us from foreign attacks. It includes defending the public with respect to their civil rights, civil liberties and other needs, e.g., national health insurance, the right of abortion, the continuation of Social Security, gay rights, other rights of privacy, fair progressive taxation and a host of other needs and rights.

If the vice president were ever called on to lead the country, there is no question in my mind that the experience and demonstrated judgment of Joe Biden is superior to that of Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin is a plucky, exciting candidate, but when her record is examined, she fails miserably with respect to her views on the domestic issues that are so important to the people of the U.S., and to me. Frankly, it would scare me if she were to succeed John McCain in the presidency.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080909/pl_politico/20927

So you mean Jethro Bush isn't going to finagle with the election again ?

Even Jesus fights the Nothing!

What's that thing he's riding ?

Well Charlie is governor of the great state of Florida now... and unlike JBush... has potential to be a new face for the Republican Party later on (he's a little less rightwing of a maniac than others in the Party).

Plus I get to vote absentee in Florida this year.

Hey its Falcor from the Neverending Story!!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I dunno - his argument isn't very convincing IMO - given the weight he's put on that book banning story which seems far from substantiated.