Hirshberg to endorse Obama today
Union Leader | July 09, 2007
By John Distaso
Stonyfield Farm chief executive Gary Hirshberg of Concord is expected to endorse Barack Obama for President this afternoon.
The Illinois senator's New Hampshire campaign has scheduled a 1 p.m. conference call to announce a "major endorsement." UnionLeader.com has learned that Hirshberg is scheduled to be on the call.
Hirshberg, an influential Democratic activist and fund-raiser, endorsed Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack for President in November 2006. But when Vilsack dropped out of the race in February, Hirshberg said Obama was on the telephone to him "literally 120 seconds" later.
Last week, Hirshberg and his wife, Meg, hosted a house party for Obama. Hirshberg said then that he was considering endorsing either Obama or John Edwards, the two candidates he said had the best chance of winning the general election.
Hirshberg himself considered a U.S. Senate race earlier this year, but decided in March that he could not devote the necessary time to a candidacy while running his business.
His organic yogurt plant in Londonderry is a traditional "must" stop on the New Hampshire presidential campaign trail.
