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By Andy Barr
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Posted: 05/12/08 03:00 PM [ET] |
Hawaii Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) on Monday became the 15th senator to endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president.
Obama in February won the caucuses in Hawaii handily, carrying 75 percent of the vote. But Akaka’s colleague, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D), has endorsed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.). Clinton has a total of 13 Senate endorsements.
The Illinois senator was born in Hawaii and spent much of his youth in the state before leaving for college at Columbia University.
In a statement, Akaka said Obama is “the antidote we need to cure Washington of the uninspired, partisan politics that has plagued our country far too long.
“I have great hope that in his own way, Barack Obama will achieve what I have been working to accomplish my entire congressional career: more tolerance and understanding, an appreciation for common goals and interests, rather than an emphasis on our differences," Akaka said.
He expressed his “highest regard” for Sen. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton.
Akaka joined several other superdelegates in endorsing Obama. Rep. Tom Allen (D-Maine), Hawaii superdelegate Dolly Strazar and Idaho state Democratic Party Chairman Keith Roark also endorsed Obama on Monday.
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