CHICAGO , IL —Congressman Paul Hodes of New Hampshire’s Second District announced today that he is endorsing Senator Barack Obama’s campaign to change American politics.  Congressman Hodes was elected to the U.S. House last November on a platform of change—including an insistence on ending the war in Iraq and a commitment to cleaning up the mess in Washington.

Hodes, who soon after being sworn in was elected president of the newest class of Democratic members of congress, said he sees Obama’s grassroots movement as the natural extension of the new representatives’ dedication to fix our broken political system and address the critical problems that we face.

“Barack and I share an optimistic vision for this country and we share the belief that change is possible when people come together,” Congressman Hodes said. “Campaigning across New Hampshire this fall, people told me that they believe this country can be great again—but they know that we need a new kind of politics if we’re going to make progress on the issues that confront us around the world.  In Barack Obama, we have a leader who will turn the page on our narrow-minded foreign policy, a leader who will end the war in Iraq and who realizes, just like JFK and Ronald Reagan did, that being a strong nation means having the strength to talk to our enemies.”

Congressman Hodes will serve as a national co-chair of the Obama campaign.

“Paul represents the very best in American politics,” Obama said. “In the face of deep skepticism he ran a true grassroots campaign on the values that Granite Staters hold dear: accountability, responsibility, and common sense. Like me, he ignored the insiders who said it was too risky to oppose the war in Iraq , and instead he spoke his conscience. One year later, he’s a leader in Washington and a phenomenal representative for New Hampshire. I’m thrilled to have his support for this movement for change.”

Paul Hodes began service to New Hampshire in 1978 when then-Attorney General David Souter hired him as an Assistant Attorney General.  Hodes distinguished himself as a prosecutor, cracking down on white collar crime, seeking justice in homicide cases, and winning the state’s first criminal conviction of an environmental polluter.  A longtime community leader in his hometown of Concord, Hodes came from behind to oust six-term Republican congressman Charlie Bass in the 2006 midterm elections. In Congress he has been an outspoken advocate for ending the war in Iraq and raising ethics standards in Washington.

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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2007
OBAMA PRESS OFFICE