Times: Villaraigosa could cause collateral damage to Hillary Clinton

Called it! I have been postulating for some time that L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s adultery and resulting divorce would hurt the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, as he is her national
chairman. Today the L.A. Times agreed:

“In the short term, a few experts wonder if the tumult over Villaraigosa’s personal life might at least cause some collateral damage to the Democratic presidential campaign of New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who sought the mayor’s recent endorsement because he is one of the nation’s most well-known Latino politicians.”

“Villaraigosa now finds himself the butt of jokes stampeding across late-night television, talk radio, Internet blogs and newspaper columns. One radio host this week invited listeners to suggest nicknames, none of them flattering.

That sort of publicity does not augur well for Villaraigosa’s role as one of Clinton’s national campaign chairmen.

When Villaraigosa endorsed Clinton in May, it was widely considered a coup for the senator because of the mayor’s appeal to Latino voters, who make up a growing wedge of the electorate in key swing states. “

“But strategists widely agree that campaigning with Villaraigosa, at least for the time being, might pose political peril for Clinton, whose own husband was infamous for his indiscretions.

“The Clintons clearly have their own baggage to deal with in the marital infidelity department without having to defend the personal behavior of a prominent campaign supporter,” said Garry South, a Democratic strategist who ran former Gov. Gray Davis’ 1998 and 2002 campaigns.”

And I have also said that Villaraigosa’s affairs have doomed his 2010 gubernatorial campaign. The Times again weighs in:

“Some experts say it is inevitable that others will now consider entering that contest simply because Villaraigosa will be seen as vulnerable in areas of the state where he is less well-known and is more likely to be remembered as the guy who had the affair.”

Meanwhile, over at the “Mayor Sam’s Sister City” Blog, even more revelations have arisen regarding Villaraigosa:

• Villaraigosa has already dumped Salinas and moved on to a Korean developer. The story goes that Salinas reacted to being dumped by outing Villaraigosa and even calling his wife to commiserate about being dumped by him!
• In the wake of Rocky Delgadillo’s problems, former staffers for the Mayor are telling us that Councilman Villaraigosa allegedly regularly used his Council staff during his 2005 Mayoral campaign for personal errands.
• A Latino Mecha activist from El Paso is disgusted with Villaraigosa’s antics.
• Villaraigosa failed to show up for the grand opening of Clinton’s L.A. campaign headquarters.
• There is even speculation that Villaraigosa will enter into spiritual rehab with L.A. Cardinal Roger Mahoney.