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Rockefeller explains why he's backing Obama
by Jake Stump
Charleston Daily Mail
After winding through miles of Ohio road with Sen. Barack Obama on his campaign bus, Sen. Jay Rockefeller hopes his pick for next president now knows a thing or two about West Virginia.
Rockefeller, D-W.Va., talked coal and Toyota, two important factors in the Mountain State, at length with Obama between stops in Nelsonville and Westerville - Ohio towns that Rockefeller admits he'd never heard of.
Last week, the 70-year-old Rockefeller announced his endorsement for Obama, the popular Illinois senator who is battling Sen. Hillary Clinton in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
The endorsement came as a surprise to some, considering Rockefeller's previous ties with the Clintons.
West Virginia's junior senator was a staunch supporter of Bill Clinton for both of his presidential campaigns, and he considers the Clinton couple as his longtime friends.
But when it comes to choosing a president, friendship is a quality that carries no weight in the discussion, Rockefeller said.
"You don't pick presidents based on friendship, no matter how long you've known somebody," he told the Daily Mail on Thursday. "I was his (Bill Clinton's) national finance chair in 1992. I've known them for a long time. But this is not a friendship question. It's about who's the best person to lead the U.S."
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