Is Obama Winning Endorsements from "Red State Democrats?"

The Carpetbagger Report (an excellent liberal political blog) thinks such a trend may be emerging. Sen. Clinton has the most endorsements by Dem. governors (10), but only 2 of them(Arkansas and Ohio) come from "red states," i.e. states that have been dominated by Republicans in the recent past and/or which G.W. Bush carried in '00 and/or '04. By contrast, Obama has only 5 gubanatorial endorsements (Mass., Ill., Virginia, Wisconsin, Arizona)--and, now, a 6th, Kansas (a story we'll return to below), but 3 of them: Virginia, Arizona, and, now, Kansas are red states. That's not much of a lead, but what about Senators: HR Clinton, the establishment candidate, has 11 Senate endorsements, but only 2 (Evan Bayh of Indiana and Bill Nelson from Florida) come from red states. Obama, by contrast, has 8 Senate endorsements with 4 from red states (North Dakota's Kent Conrad, South Dakota's Tim Johnson, Missouri's Claire McCaskill, and Nebraska's Ben Nelson).

If this is a trend, what does it mean? Well, it COULD mean that red state Democrats believe that Obama has a better chance than Clinton not just of winning the White House, but of expanding the Democratic Party--expanding the map, as his whole campaign has tried to do. That would be significant: Could it be that red state Dems are saying, especially in states that are or seem to be moving toward becoming, swing states, "If you want to have a chance to win this state in November, nominate Obama rather than Clinton?" Some, like Claire McCaskill (D-MO) have indicated as much in their endorsements.

The trend seems to be continuing: Kansas' Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) is a rising star. She is scheduled to give the Democratic response tonight to the Smirking Chimp, er, Bush's State of the Union address. Then, later this week, she is expected to endorse Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) for president. Except for superstar politicians like Ted Kennedy (and even then, his campaigning for Obama is more important than his endorsement alone), political endorsements in primaries don't mean all that much. But if there is a trend developing of red state Democratic pols endorsing Obama, it could be far more significant.

Sebelius, like Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-AZ), is a rising star, too, and her endorsement signals to women that it is okay to vote for Obama--which could be very important in swing states.

Finally, coming this week, Sebelius' endorsement continues the "Big Momentum" for Obama coming out of SC.

The national polls still show Clinton with a 12 point lead over Obama--but that lead was over 20 points a week ago and nearly 30 points for most of a year. What do you think, Hill? Are objects in your rear view mirror closer than they appear??

Update: As expected, Gov. Sebelius, endorsed Obama, today. She won reelection with 58% of the vote in a state where only 27% are registered Democrats--a state which hasn't voted for a Democratic president since LBJ. (Sebelius thinks Obama could change that this year more than Clinton.) Sebelius just finished as head of the National Governor's Association--a post once held by Bill Clinton. Obama is holding a rally in KS, today.