In Mailer, Hakeem Jeffries Doubles Down On Obama Support

He’s been dubbed the “Barack of Brooklyn,” and one of the initial mailers sent out by Hakeem Jeffries’ Brooklyn congressional campaign doubles down on his links to President Obama.

A source passed along the below mailer, which states in bold letters, “Our President Needs a Partner,” and on the other side notes that Jeffries was one of the earliest Obama supporters.

“It’s easy to criticize from the sidelines, but what our President needs is a strong partner,” the mailer notes.

The distinction is that Jeffries’ opponent, Councilman Charles Barron, has at times been very critical of Obama, at one point calling Obama a “mouthpiece for a racist, imperialistic American foreign policy controlled by generals and corporate elites.” (That comment is not mentioned in Jeffries’ mailer.)

Since Barron made that statement a year ago, his odds of actually winning this congressional race have increased quite a bit, especially with the decision of incumbent Congressman Ed Towns to retire — and he’s recently been taking quite a bit softer tone towards Obama and pretty much everyone else. In a debate on NY 1 the other night, Jeffries criticized Barron’s comments about the president, but Barron insisted that he supports Obama, and says that he was also in fact an early Obama supporter. Barron also argues that his outspokenness in Congress would help push the Democratic Party and Obama to the left.

Reid Pillifant of Capital New York wrote yesterday about the exchange on NY1 between Jeffries and Barron.

Hakeem