In a campaign season where much ado has been made of endorsements but their value has been questionable, Barack Obama bagged a potentially big one today – Bill Richardson.
Hispanic voters have been a key voting bloc for Hillary Clinton and, as the nation’s only Hispanic governor, Richardson could attract Hispanics to Obama. But Richardson, who largely based his own presidential campaign on opposition to the Iraq war, does not have wide name recognition, did poorly in the early primaries and dropped out.
His ability to siphon-off Hispanic votes for Obama in the remaining primaries — almost all in states without significant Hispanic populations — seems problematic, so the short-term effect of the endorsement is questionable.
The endorsement was nevertheless a setback for Clinton because Richardson, a former congressman and Bill Clinton administration energy secretary, had been viewed as a possible vice presidential running mate for her.
Richardson hailed Obama’s judgment and ability to be commander-in-chief, the qualities that Clinton has called into question.
Said Richardson:
“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. 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.”
As a governor, Richardson is a superdelegate who would vote for Obama, who now has a lead of about 150 delegates.
Clinton has received the endorsements of 93 members of Congress to Obama’s 81, and both have received a number of celebrity endorsements.
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