A follow-up to Chris's post below about David Wilhelm's endorsement of Obama. Some people might think this is a big surprise, but I'm not so sure. After all, Wilhelm has probably been been nursing a grudge against the Clintons for a while now. The reason? In 1994 he was unceremoniously pushed out of the DNC chair job the Clintons had given him as a reward for his good work in the '92 campaign.
From an August, 1994 WaPo article by Dan Balz (not online):
Among those who followed Bill Clinton to Washington, none was more loyal than Democratic National Committee Chairman David Wilhelm.
He stolidly bore the brunt of criticism for Democratic election losses and for decisions by others over which he sometimes had little control. He quietly accepted direction from a White House political operation that lacked clear lines of authority or clear leadership.
Good soldier Wilhelm was informed this week by new White House Chief of Staff Leon E. Panetta that former representative Tony Coelho would be joining the DNC as senior adviser, spokesman and strategist.
What happened to Wilhelm is an allegorical tale of Washington, in which the allegiance he offered to the president who appointed him was returned neither by Clinton nor others around him.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
--Jason Zengerle