"The Big Enchilada!"That's how a spokesman for Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee described the endorsement that came the Democratic congresswoman's way Saturday afternoon. No, it wasn't from a senator or labor union, as important as those endorsements may be to the incumbent from the 18th Congressional district. This one, it turns out, was the biggest enchilada.
"Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee is a tireless champion for Houston's working families," President Barack Obama said in a statement released by the Jackson Lee campaign. "That's why we need her back in Congress to help my efforts to bring real jobs back to Houston and the nation."
What must make the president's words especially galling to Jackson Lee's challengers, City Council member Jarvis Johnson and local lawyer Sean Roberts, is that they challenged Jackson Lee in the first place in part because of her steadfast support of Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race.
They maintained that most residents of the 18th were Obama supporters and Jackson Lee was thumbing her nose at them.
"I am grateful and humbled to receive this endorsement from President Obama," said Jackson Lee in the press release. "When he asked me to campaign for him, I found it so rewarding to see the outpouring of support for the change he represented and now he is the change agent that America and Houston need today."
Neither Johnson nor Roberts was immediately available for comment.