Obama Receives Additional Endorsements

The 2008 race is breaking the usual patterns. There have been races in the past where an insurgent candidate pulls an upset in Iowa but loses in New Hampshire. Typically the establishment candidate has money money and the advantages of the party machinery to ultimately beat the insurgent. While this year’s race is far more in doubt than immediately after Iowa, Obama is clearly not going to play the role of the typical insurgent and quickly disappear. Compared to past insurgency campaigns, Obama is better funded and is receiving endorsements which reduce Clinton’s advantages. He has received additional endorsements of significance from Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano and Senators Ben Nelson and Claire McCaskill.

Ben Nelson endorsed Obama saying, “Barack Obama, to me represents the best hope for our own political reconciliation and a future where the cogs of government are working smoothly for progress instead of being gummed up by partisanship.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Claire McCaskill endorsed Obama saying “only once in a generation” does a politician come along with Obama’s “particular gift” and argued that it would be “a terrible disappointment” if the country didn’t seize this moment. They also note that “McCaskill could help Obama win over women voters, a pivotal constituency in his contest with Clinton as she vies to become the nation’s first female president.”

Janet Napolitano endorsed Obama saying:

“This election is fundamentally about change,” she told Arizona reporters after the conference call. “It’s about a new vision in Washington, D.C. It’s about bringing people of different areas of the country together, it’s about bringing people of different parties together, people of different ages together. To me, Sen. Obama is evidence of that change that we need.”

The New York Times also reports that Congressman James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking African-American in Congress, is considering an endorsement of Obama.

Josh Marshall noted the significance of these and other recent endorsements:

But that isn’t the biggest significance. The key is timing. You don’t hit a big time politician like Hillary Clinton when she’s down unless you’re really against her and you’re fairly confident she’s not getting back up. After winning in New Hampshire, albeit narrowly and after the clobbering in Iowa, there’s been a sense that Clinton may be back on track to consolidating her frontrunner status and perhaps following a modified version of the standard script in which the anointed frontrunner gets a scare in the early states before mopping up the competition as the race goes national. But these four clearly don’t want that to happen. In fact, they’re sticking their necks pretty far out to help make it not happen. And their endorsements, coming right now, tell me they have some confidence it won’t .


5 Comments

  1. 1
    Eric Dondero says:

    This morning it’s coming to light, as has long been expected, that Barack Hussein Obama, has strong ties to Lous Farahkan and the Nation of Islam. Obama’s pastor is quoted as praising Farahkan, and also gave him an award from his church. Newsmax has the story up on its site. But we have also linked to it at http://www.libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com

    Last week Pamela of Atlas Shrugged Blog/BTR uncovered a shocking video of Obama in a Nation of Islam pose during his stint in the Illinois Legislature questioning Christianity. At the time Obama was viewed as one of the “rising stars” of Black Muslim politians in the Mid-West.

    Amazing how much Obama has in common with Ron Paul on foreign policy and Jewish relations. They’re starting to look to be one in the same.

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    So Eric, when your attack on Obama yesterday was shown to be factually incorrect you just come back with a different line of nonsense.

    This is old news. Nobody cares about the views of Obama’s pastor when Obama does not share his views on Farahkan.

    Right wingers have been spreading lies about Obama’s religion for quite a while. Do you really want to join them in these racist and dishonest attacks?

    Obama has nothing in common with Paul. However, seeing your repeated racist smears on Obama makes me wonder whether you ever happened to ghost write any of Ron Paul’s newsletters when you worked for him.

  3. 3
    Ron Chusid says:

    Obama’s response on Farahkan:

    “I decry racism and anti-Semitism in every form and strongly condemn the anti-Semitic statements made by Minister Farrakhan. I assume that Trumpet Magazine made its own decision to honor Farrakhan based on his efforts to rehabilitate ex-offenders, but it is not a decision with which I agree.”

    The most highly publicized account of these charges against Obama are in a pair of columns by Richard Cohen. Even Cohen admits, “It’s important to state right off that nothing in Obama’s record suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views or agrees with Wright when it comes to Farrakhan.”

    This line of attack is dead. It looks like you’re going to have to make up yet something else.

  4. 4
    Eric Dondero says:

    Fox just reported on this story 2 hours ago. It’s gone from Libertarian Republican Blog and Atlas Shrugged to NewsMax and now to Fox News.

    Wanna run that by me again? What was that you said? The story has “no legs.”

  5. 5
    Ron Chusid says:

    No Eric, Fox News is not a legitimate news outlet. Fox has a long history of spreading the lies started by right wingers.

    Also note that many Jewish organizations are also condemning this racist and spurious attack. It sure has backfired when the result is to get Jewish publications to defend Obama.

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