Joe Wilson endorses Hillary-"she's the one who understands the need to get us out of harm's way." [View All]

(For Joe Wilson to say that Hillary is the "only candidate who understands the need to get America out of harm's way" is so totally untrue, it is mindboggling! Wilson also doesn't rule out taking a job in a Hillary administration.)

Joe Wilson Endorses Hillary!
By Greg Sargent | bio
Joe Wilson just endorsed Hillary during an ongoing conference call with liberal bloggers.

Wilson just said that "she is the one candidate in my judgment who understands the need to get America out of harm's way," and into a "political process." He added that she best understands the need to "end the war but end it in a way that preserves some shred of our strategic position in the region."

More soon.

Update: Wilson also says that one thing that bonds the two is their mutual experience with the "meat grinder" -- a.k.a., the right wing slime machine.

Update II: Wilson, asked if he would serve under a Hillary administration if offered a post, says: "This is not a job interview," though he adds: "You never know."

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/jul/16/joe_wilson_endorses_hillary

Edited to add Update III:

Update III: A few quick points about this. The Hillary campaign, which rolled out the Wilson news on a conference call with liberal bloggers, clearly hopes the Wilson endorsement serves at least the partial goal of winning over liberal activists and netroots types who might still be unhappy with Hillary for all the reasons you've heard repeatedly by now. Wilson carries great cache among such folks, who were energized by his speaking out against the administration and everything else that happened as a result of his protracted fight with the White House.

It's interesting, then, to note that the primary reason Wilson cited for backing Hillary is her view of what should happen after the war -- her awareness, as he sees it, of the need to end the war "in a way that preserves some shred of our strategic position in the region." This, of course, touches on the whole residual force debate, which ironically is something Hillary has taken heat for from bloggers and others whom the Wilson endorsement is most likely to impress.

Hillary's post-war plans, of course, are not the only reason Wilson says he's backing her. Asked whether Hillary was really preferable to the other Dems on Iraq, he repeated his endorsement of her post-war vision, but also made it very clear that they also had a powerful personal connection born of having both been through the right wing slime "meat grinder."

Indeed, at one point, Wilson, who's moving to Santa Fe, recounted that the two were recently having dinner together and discussing the difficulties of living under sustained media and political assaults. According to Wilson, she told him:

"Joe, when you get to Santa Fe, let it go."

Of Hillary's advice, Wilson added: "That's where she is, and I have learned an enormous amount from that."