Friday, March 21, 2008

A symbolic victory

Former Presidential Candidate Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed (or is endorsing as I write this) Senator Barack Obama for President, giving him another Super Delegate and maybe (and I stress maybe) helping Obama increase his constituency. Of course, if Richardson had the electoral power he needed, he would not be a former candidate so the weight of this endorsement rests with Obama gaining a new Super Delegate.

However, while this may not give Senator Obama a large boost in the polls, this endorsement becomes symbolically important for two reasons:

(1) The Clintons provided Richardson with his political life and attempted to court him since he dropped his own candidacy. Former President Clinton watched the Super Bowl with him this year to court his support. But "loyalty" is no longer enough in the present as Gov. Richardson described Senator Obama as being a “once-in-a-lifetime leader.”

(2) The endorsement shows that it is "politically safe" to support Senator Obama again. Even after his terrible week, well terrible two weeks, the Richardson endorsement becomes a sign that other Super Delegates and Party Elites can continue to support Senator Obama. It seems that Richardson is supporting Senator Obama because of Obama's "A More Perfect Union" speech even as the Clinton campaign, according to MSNBC this morning, attempted to use the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as evidence to uncommitted Super Delegates that they should not support Senator Obama.

This will not translate into an Obama victory in Pennsylvania, well nothing would, but it certainly stops the bleeding so Obama can repair the damage done in the past two weeks.

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