Dicks gives his two cents on Obama candidacy, urges support

U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks: Getty Images PhotoDENVER --The dean of Washington's congressional delegation who has served the 6th District since 1977, Norm Dicks, gave his take on the Democratic presidential race from an insider's perspective.

First off Dicks, who was an early supporter of Hillary Clinton, gave the Clintons their due.

"I gotta tell you," he said to a standing ovation, "Bill and Hillary Clinton did what they had to do to unify this party and we should be proud of them. We should be proud of the Clintons for what they did. And by the way, George W. Bush is the worst president we've had in the history of this country."

Dicks then used Bush as an example to tout the work he had done on behalf of Indian tribes, the Puget Sound and National Parks, all things he said Bush tried to cut funding for in past years. He also called for an economic boost by way of major public works projects.

"We need to put people back to work, so we need an infrastructure bill," he said. "This will put people back to work immediately"

He also said that he and other Washington Democrats would "fight to the death" to keep the Department of Defense from giving the Air Force tanker contract to EADS/Northrop Grumman.

"This is a big deal because these jobs should remain in the United States," Dicks said, adding that keeping high tech aerospace plans in America was crucial. "To have the Defense Department give them away because of John McCain makes no sense to me."

But Dicks didn't stay long on policy before heading back to his take on Barack Obama.

"I want you to know I strongly support his candidacy and I want you to know I think he'll be a great commander in chief," Dicks said. "I think this is going to be a great ticket that is going to be out there explaining to the American people what we are going to do."

But first, Dicks explained, Obama must do a good job of explaining what he will do as president and "he must add some texture and some definition to this."

"Every Democrat in this country must come together and support Barack Obama and Joe Biden," he concluded. "We have got to unify, there is no excuse. We have got to win this election, it is too important."

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