The New York Times reports that Obama has picked up some key endorsements in Iowa. “Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, a longtime fixture of state politics, and State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, are announcing later today that they have signed onto the Obama team.”
They question how valuable the endorsements are noting that Howard Dean received the endorsement of Al Gore before the Iowa caucus. The media might be paying attention to the wrong endorsements. In 2003 they concentrated on covering high profile endorsements such as Gore’s endorsement of Dean but paid little attention to the endorsements that really mattered. While Dean was making the news, John Kerry was quietly getting the support of local leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire, which had more of an impact on those early races. I don’t know if these endorsements will be enough to help Obama stop Hillary, but it keeps him in the gain. Another aspect that might be significant is that Fitzgerald endorsed Edwards before the 2004 caucus but has now gone over to Obama.
