Sweeney, Vitale back Clinton

Barack Obama may have gotten the support of Dick Codey today, the most popular politician in New Jersey, but two other prominent Edwards supporters have gone the Clinton route.

Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney and State Sen. Joseph Vitale announced their support for Clinton in a conference call today, burnishing their respective organized labor and health care credentials. They were joined by Mike Beson, the Edwards campaign state director

Vitale, who chairs the Health and Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, said that Clinton has the best plan to provide universal health care.

“I find her approach to helping solve this issue not just inspired but informed. I’m pleased to join her campaign,” said Vitale.

Sweeney, who has a background as a labor union leader, endorsed Edwards early on, but has reportedly been on the fence between him and Clinton for weeks. Today, he joined up with Clinton without hesitation, saying that she’s closest to Edwards on labor issues like minimum wage.

“Hillary Clinton basically has, in my opnion, the same views and care about the little guy when it comes to min wage, health care -- blue collar issues,” he said.

Beson said that he’s going to devote the resources he’s amassed while supporting Edwards to working on behalf of Clinton, and starting tomorrow he’ll be phone banking from his office. He said that the Edwards campaign, while far from the largest in the state, has hundreds of supporters, many of whom will head to Clinton’s camp. Sweeney, for his part, said that the unions he’s affiliated with will be working the phones for Clinton.

Assemblyman and Democratic State Committee Chairman Joe Cryan was also on the call. He brushed off a question about Codey’s support for Obama, instead emphasizing that Vitale and Sweeney provide a lot of “talent” to the ticket, especially on labor and health care issues.

“I spoke to Sen. Codey this morning, he was noncommittal on what he was doing,” said Cryan. “When I see is when we look at issues as Democrats, we believe that Hillary Clinton has the experience and the ability to lead us with change from day one.”