Tony Castro's America

Why Antonio Is Endorsing Hillary

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign -- it'll be official Wednesday -- is the politically shrewd move, coalition politics and Sanjaya-like Obama passion aside.

And it has nothing to do with presidential politics. Gubernatorial politics, maybe. Or, for sure.

By giving Hillary the biggest Latino political endorsement to date, which will be especially helpful in the suddenly important California presidential primary, Antonio assures himself of being able to call in a quid pro quo for Bill and Hillary's endorsement when the mayor announces his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, as everyone expects him to do.

Those Clinton endorsements will mean a lot more in Antonio's anticipated statewide run than anything that Barack Obama or any of the other Democratic presidential hopefuls can offer.

The Latino Strategy for the White House

Could it be that Supervisor Gloria Molina, arguably the most powerful Latino in Los Angeles County government, really believes New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson can win the Democratic presidential nomination?  And does this mean she's not supporting the woman who some believe stands the best chance of breaking the Glass Ceiling to the White House?

Molina introduced Richardson Monday when he formally entered the presidential race. She was obviously the most prominent of the Los Angeles local Latino leaders billed to be backing Richardson at the Millennium Hotel.

But a more likely scenario is that her backing of Richardson shows how much Latino leaders -- the real ones -- have learned about big time politics. Instead of all of them jumping on one campaign and risk alienating the eventual winner -- as they usually have done in the past -- they are showing some creative collusion in how they are lining up.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, for instance, continues inching closer to Hillary Rodham Clinton. And while Barack Obama is still looking for his first major Latino endorser, don't be too surprised if soon another top name from the Molina-Villaraigosa doesn't soon begin making significant overtures to the campaign of the junior Illinois senator.

Is Antonio Closer to Endorsing Hillary?

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may have tipped his hand in New York Wednesday night on which Democratic presidential candidate he's leaning toward endorsing.

Villaraigosa, in the Big Apple for a Greening America pow-wow, was wined and dined by no less than former President Bill Clinton -- even running into conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh at one point.

It is also an opportune visit for Villaraigosa, the cover story of this week's New Yorker -- a piece that the politically ambitious mayor reportedly wasn't thrilled about but which spreads the political Horatio Alger-like Corrida of Antonio even wider.

But read what Limbaugh had to say about running into the former President, who came back to Rush's table with a friend.

"He's got another guy standing with him, and the guy looks familiar, but I can't place him. I can't hear the introduction. So I'm shaking hands and so forth, and this man is going on and on and on about how excited he is to meet me. He wanted to meet me, and the former president brought him over. When the former president told him I was there, he said, ' have to meet Mr. Limbaugh.'

"It turns out it was the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, and so we chatted for a while, and while I'm chatting -- now, this is hilarious. While I'm chatting with Villaraigosa, I kind of slid to the right in my half-moon booth, and as I did that, that created some distance between me and my guest. I'm talking with Villaraigosa, and when I'm talking to somebody in a very loud place like this, I have to devote full attention. I had to turn my head to my left, away from the action behind me, to hear what the mayor was saying. At some point during the conversation with the mayor, I looked to my left, and the former president was intently chatting up the woman that I was sitting with. He had leaned down, and his elbows and arms were on the railing of the booth, and they were in intense conversation."

Geez, Antonio and Clinton alone in Manhattan. Can Geraldo be far behind?

The GOP Debate: Reagan Wannabes

SIMI VALLEY - While every candidate at the first Republican presidential debate Thursday night jockeyed to become the political heir to President Reagan's legacy, John McCain showed why he may be the spiritual heir in Nancy Reagan's heart.

Moments after the debate, as he removed his wireless microphone from inside his suit jacket behind the stage at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, the Arizona senator noticed a shiny dime on the floor. He bent down for a closer look, then kept walking past the coin.

The dime was lying heads down, and picking up coins that are tails up is a no-no for McCain.    

"Am I superstitious? I'm that," McCain said, walking with his wife, Cindy, and entourage to the candidates' reception. "But I don't think I'm alone there."

At the Reagan Library, McCain, who says he has been superstitious since he was a prisoner of war in Vietnam, had come to the right place. Read more