Bill Richardson Endorses Senator Barack Obama [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected [url] This content is protected [/url] This content is protected The Associated Press reports that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is endorsing Illinois Senator Barack This content is protected Obama's candidacy for President: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama for president ... "I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."Richardson's endorsement is one of a handful of truly meaningful endorsements still up for grabs, endorsements that could actually translate to more votes for a candidate. Richardson has been buzzed about as a Vice Presidential candidate, was seen as having the best resume´ of the Democratic field, and is seen as being able to deliver a large amount of Hispanic votes for whomever he endorses. This is a huge endorsement for Senator Obama, and it could not have come at a better time for him. Does Richardson's seal of approval signal that the DNC and the Democratic establishment have already made up their minds? Has Bill Richardson stuck a fork in Clinton's White House bid? var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-3712949-1"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview(); Obama has seen his fortunes reverse dramatically since just before the Big State Primary, when Senator Clinton began attacking him with the panic-inducing "3am" ad, and although Obama came away from those contests with a nearly insurmountable delegate lead, relentless coverage of several examples of Reverend Jeremiah Wright's inflammatory rhetoric have damaged Obama's standing in national polls. This content is protected The full effect of Senator Obama's historic [url] This content is protected [/url]have yet to be reflected in polls, although as [url] This content is protected [/url], daily tracking numbers show it at least stopped the decline. After all of the dust has settled, Hillary Clinton has managed to close the polling gap with Obama, but has also erased a nearly campaign-long Democratic lead over McCain. With Obama's delegate lead, the net effect has simply been to weaken Obama's chances against McCain in November. This content is protected The Clinton campaign clings to hope that it can go to Denver having closed the gap enough to put the Superdelegates in play. Richardson's endorsement could be the signal that it ain't gonna happen that way. If several more endorsements like this, from key Democrats like Al Gore and John Edwards, go Obama's way in short order, that would indicate that the grownups have made their ruling. Because Richardson is so influential with Hispanics, a key Clinton and McCain demographic, this is one heavy domino. Clinton's supporters have been stressing that pledged delegates are not bound by the rules to vote the way their state does, but fail to explain the extraordinary circumstances in which they would circumvent the will of the people. They don't look at the votes and say, "Hmmm. Let me mull that over." The expectation is that they will vote that way. The flexibility is there to allow, say, Edwards' delegates to vote for Obama, or on the Republican side, both of Rudy Giuliani's to vote for McCain. It is not there to allow the pledge delegates to play Solomon. The Democratic Party can ill afford to have their nominee seen as illegitimate, and would be wise to try to engineer a clear victory for one or the other. Since the delegate math is stacked so significantly against Hillary, and she has signaled her intent to remain at the party long after the host has handed her her coat, now would be the time for them to finish their drinks and go home with Obama.
