DENVER—Bill Perkins, one of the first New York elected officials to endorse Barack Obama, jumped out of his seat and let out an ear-piercing whistle as Hillary Clinton addressed party unity in a speech to the New York delegation this morning.

“I think she hit a home run,” he said when I asked him about the speech later; he also called it “a transformational expression of support.” Perkins went on, “If that enthusiasm continues, then it’s done and she gets credit for moving [her supporters] into the victory column.”

Representative Charlie Rangel, who gave a fist-bump to Chuck Schumer after giving his own address, called Clinton’s speech “fantastic.  read more »

Hillary Clinton has released New York’s delegates from any obligation to vote for her and asked them to vote for Barack Obama instead, according to Representative Charlie Rangel.

Just a few moments ago, as Rangel left a gala thrown by Sheldon Silver welcoming the New York delegation, I asked him why so many officials in the delegation, of which he is dean, are still confused about what to do at the convention.

“Clinton told me to tell everybody that they are released and to vote for Obama,” said Rangel. When asked why so many in the delegation still didn’t know that, he responded, “Now that’s a stupid question.  read more »

Here’s a clip from Matt Stoler’s interview of Democratic Congressional candidate Kevin Powell (who is trying to unseat Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn), where the two discuss the FISA bill that recently passed both houses on Congress, and which many on the left opposed. (Barack Obama faced criticism from progressives over the bill, which he voted for.)

About halfway through, Powell says, “We’ve lost our backbone.” He adds later, “A lot of us have become spineless Democrats.”

Towns voted against FISA.

In case you’re wondering, Democratic members of Congress from New York who supported FISA include Tim Bishop and Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island; Gary Ackerman, Greg Meeks and Joe Crowley of Queens; Eliot Engel of the Bronx; Nita Lowey of Westchester; Kirsten Gillibrand of Albany; and upstate's Mike Arcuri and Brian Higgins.  read more »

As we wrote in today’s paper, Clinton- (and now Obama-) supporting congressman Eliot Engel thinks that Barack Obama’s election may depend on him picking the former first lady as his running mate.

Engel’s fellow New York Democrat Louise Slaughter, who, like Engel, backed Clinton until the primaries were over, has a different analysis: “I don't see any way in the world Obama could ever lose New York," she told me.  read more »

It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one trying to get squared away with Eliot Spitzer’s new license policy.

The governor’s (original) plan would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, but now it's being linked to federal guidelines that will be outlined in the Real ID Act. Although Spitzer backed Real ID this week, a number of Democratic congress members from New York opposed it during a 2005 vote (which may explain why it hasn't been easy getting most of them to say anything about Spitzer's new plan).

One congressional aide was kind enough to refer me to the results of the 2005 vote on the Real ID Act.

Democrats Gary Ackerman (Queens/Nassau), Tim Bishop (Suffolk), Joe Crowley (Queens/Bronx), Eliot Engel (Bronx/Westchester), Carolyn Maloney (Manhattan/Queens), Greg Meeks (Queens), Jerry Nadler (Manhattan/Brooklyn), Charlie Rangel (Manhattan), Jose Serrano (Bronx), Ed Towns (Brooklyn), Nydia Velazquez (Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens) and Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn) all voted against it.

UPDATE: Another congressional staffer, putting this story in context, noted that every Democratic congress member in the state voted against Real ID, except for Mike McNulty, who voted for it, and Maurice Hinchey who was absent.

Matthew Schuerman writes about the mayor's evolved position on corporate welfare.

Michael Calderone looks at the way that the New York Times has become the beneficiary of a leak bonanza from the Bush administration. And Mike DeBonis provides a glimpse of Johnny Apple's memorial service yesterday.

And Steve Kornacki says that Mitt Romney is faking it.

The mayor's office says that the only time the Mayor met with the KJ leaders was at a governmental meeting where he in no way made or lobbied for a Congressional endorsement.

Reporter: One of the tight congressional races in New York involves Sue Kelly. Have you campaigned for her?

Mayor: It involves who?

Reporter: Sue Kelly.

Mayor: Yes, I've campaigned for Sue Kelly. She's been there when we've needed her and I think she's been a good congressperson and deserves to get reelected. I thought she's done a good job. She'd been there a number of times when this city has had issues in Washington and she's tried to come through as much as she can. Yes, sir?

"You report today from Isac that KJ has endorsed Hall is not 100% accurate, what KJ plans to do is let a rumor roll that they endorsed Hall, and on the day of election tell all there voters to vote for Sue Kelly. They are playing a trick here, to avoid embarrassment in case Hall wins."

"You have the wrong Eliot delivering the KJ vote to Hall. It was Congressman Eliot Engel. Check with your sources inside KJ."

If anybody has more information on what really happened, let us know.

On Saturday Hillary Clinton, David Paterson, Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel will join Andrea Stewart-Cousins for a rally at the Yonkers YWCA Auditorium.

Eric Massa attends a house party.

On Saturday and Sunday Democracy for New York carpools to campaign for Jimmy Dahroug for state senate in Suffolk County.

Here was Engel's emailed reponse to our question:

"I believe there should be a cease-fire but only after it can be guaranteed that Hezbollah will not be able to threaten Israel from South Lebanon. The international forces should be deployed to keep Hezbollah out of Southern Lebanon."

Sounds like a yes, sort of.