Obama to receive Phila. endorsements today

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

By Marcia Gelbart

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

A bevy of city and state elected officials - specifically, six City Councilmembers, three state represenatives and two state senators - are expected to endorse Barack Obama for president at 2 p.m. today in City Hall.

"In addition to voicing support for their preferred Democratic candidate, this endorsement event is meant to balance the endorsements of other political leaders in the city and state, including Mayor Nutter and Governor Rendell," stated a press release announcing the event.

Nutter and Rendell are backing Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania's April 22 primary.

The Council members who will announce their support of Obama today are: Curtis Jones, Bill Green, Jannie Blackwell, Donna Reed-Miller, Jim Kenney and Wilson Goode, Jr.

Among the Pennsylvania lawmakers will be state senators Shirley Kitchen and Vincent Hughes, and state representatives Jewell Williams, Harold James and Tony Payton Jr.

"In Pennsylvania, we realize that top party officials are not with us as it relates to Senator Obama's candidacy," Jones said, "but there are three words that were born in Philadelphia and still resonate across the Commonwealth today, and they are 'We the People.'"