Barack Obama's name was never mentioned. In the meeting room at King/Drew Magnet High School in Willowbrook, the word on everyone's lips as they lauded Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday was experience.
"On a championship team, we need experience; we need a veteran," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, said of Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.). "We need someone who's been through a championship game, played at a championship level."
Former Los Angeles Laker Earvin "Magic" Johnson, whose formal endorsement of Clinton was the campaign's news of the day, furthered the argument.
"The president that we have in there now has gotten us so far in debt," Johnson said. "We need an experienced person to get us out of debt."
Although the name of Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) was not uttered, he was the clear subtext to Clinton's appearance before several hundred community leaders and students, most of them African American. The implicit message to the audience and to those who might see broadcasts -- 10 TV cameras were present -- was that Clinton's experience trumped any emotional tug from the man running to be the first black president.
There were repeated references to her work as a poverty lawyer, her many visits here, her partnership with Bill Clinton -- who is still popular among black voters -- and her three decades in public life. The unspoken contrast: Obama's eight years in the Illinois state Senate and less than three in national office.
The event itself, with Johnson embracing Clinton figuratively and literally, was meant to bolster the idea that she passes muster.
"He's an icon to a lot of blacks, not just as an African American but as a sports star, and he's got crossover appeal to nonblacks," said Garry South, a veteran Democratic consultant who is not aligned in the 2008 race.
Although endorsements like Johnson's rarely make a huge difference, "voters do take cues and clues from popular figures about the acceptability of candidates running for public office," South said. "So this is sending signals. It's about sending messages."
It was also about money, with a fundraiser Friday night for Clinton at the Beverly Hills home of Johnson and his wife, Cookie. Campaign officials said several hundred were invited, with tickets $500 each. The gathering was the oddly logical bookend to last Saturday's fundraiser for Obama hosted by Oprah Winfrey.
