The Queens Democratic Committee is poised to formally endorse Hillary Clinton for President on Friday in the spirit of the early support the party gave her husband during his first presidential run.
Rep. Joseph Crowley, the Queens County Democratic chairman, who has backed Clinton for months, sent a letter to district leaders informing them of a meeting at party headquarters to designate a candidate for the White House. The junior senator will be on hand as a "special guest."
At Thomas Manton's funeral last July, Bill Clinton reminisced about how he had been invited in 1991 by the longtime Queens Democratic boss to talk to party members despite the fact that Clinton was then running fifth or sixth in public opinion polls.
Clinton said he took the subway out to see Manton, who became an early backer and saw the soon-to-be President through the dark days of the 1992 campaign.
Sen. Clinton has a wide lead over all her 2008 Democratic primary rivals in public opinion polls, but she has not yet received endorsements from all the party's county chairmen. The Democratic leaders of Brooklyn and the Bronx are among prominent holdouts, and both have indicated at least a passing interest in Clinton's chief rival for the Democratic nod, Barack Obama.
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