Mofo Politics | Hoping Obama Fails

Conservative radio talk show host Mike Smerconish endorses Barack Obama

Posted October 17th, 2008 under Headlines Tags: conservative, endorse, endorsement, mccain, obama, smerconish

Philly.com:

Michael Smerconish lit up the phone lines and filled his in-box this morning at his WPHT show with word that he’s planning to vote for Barack Obama — marking the first time since he registered to vote 28 years ago that he’ll pull the Democrat lever for president.

…

In a chat this afternoon, Smerconish acknowledged that most of the callers and e-mails were scathing, capping months of criticism that began when Smerconish invited Obama to speak on the air. ”They never wanted me to welcome Obama in the first place,” he said. In the spring, Smerconish announced that if he were a Democrat, he’d prefer Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Smerconish’s associations with John McCain date back years. I remember a Smerconish “book club” appearance with McCain at the Downtown Club in December 2005 that was a veritable love-in for the Arizona senator.

Smerconish also acknowledged that this “coming out” might hurt his career nationally. He’s been a frequent guest on and fill-in host for big names such as Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly — both of whom wear their conservativism loudly and proudly. 

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