Sen. Edward "Ted" Kennedy, will endorse Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president tomorrow. That is his biggest endorsement, yet, and comes on the heels of yesterday's huge SC blowout and this a.m.'s endorsement by Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the late Pres. John F. Kennedy, and Ted's niece. It also comes on top of huge online fundraising last night--the Obama campaign raised more than $500,000 (most of it in small contributions) in one hour after his victory speech. (Now if he can translate that into a ground game in the next 9 days!) Ms. Schlossberg's endorsement was amazing, calling Obama the first presidential candidate in her lifetime who had the opportunity to inspire her the way many say her father inspired them. (I was only 3 when JFK was murdered and only 5 when Bobby was killed. My greatest inspiration was Jimmy Carter--no great speaker--for his human rights foreign policy. But it wasn't the same. BTW, I don't think those who expect either Carter or Al Gore to endorse anyone are right. Carter needs the cooperation of the White House for some of the work of the Carter Center and Gore wants a major effort on climate change--so neither can afford to alienate a potential president by endorsing a losing candidate.)
But this is huge. With both Kennedy and Kerry endorsing Obama, he will probably win Mass. on 05 Feb. Further, I think he has a better shot at NJ than Hillary thinks. I also think he has a major shot at Georgia, Colorado, North Carolina and will take Illinois, of course. I do not know how to read the big prize of California--but Kennedy's endorsement may swing others. He is hugely popular among the liberal end of the Democratic Party. (I would love for California's Sen. Barbara Boxer to endorse Obama. She's been neutral, but with her cohort, Feinstein, endorsing Clinton, Boxer may way in--and she is more liberal than either Feinstein or Clinton. I would also love more Latino endorsements, of course!)
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3 comments:
Speaking for the Georgia political landscape which only a few years ago I knew very very well, I'd say Obama will win. I haven't seen any polls - but I can't imagine Hillary winning.
Many of the white Democratic state-wide leaders have endorsed John Edwards (so potentially he could do very well) but expect to see a high African-American turnout. Atlanta leaders like Shirley Franklin the mayor have either endorsed Obama or tipped their hat his way. Heroes like John Lewis have realized that a mistake was made in endorsing HRC. In Lewis's case, I expect his constituents to support Obama in landslide numbers.
Folks like the Clintons are nasty and hold grudges. If Hillary were to win the nomination and become President, can you imagine how many good loyal Dems will get snubbed in some way or another by Bill and Hillary for not supporting her in the primary? I think Lewis's heart was with Obama but his loyalty to (and fear of) the Clintons won out.
Michael,
You may wish to inform your readers about Democrats Abroad and Republicans abroad. Both groups have arranged for an online primary to select delegates that will represent their respective groups as "state" delegations at the national conventions. For those of us who cannot vote in the primaries by absentee ballot due to our states using a caucus system, this is a great way to participate (not to mention a heck of a lot cheaper than sending an absentee ballot back home via international fedex rates!) Oh, and I should mention that back home my voter registration is not with either of the two major parties but was still able to register for the online primary of my choice without any difficulty. In other words, the national primaries are similar to some of the early primary states where folks can cross-party lines to vote for the primary candidate of their choice.
Thanks for that info, Daniel. I'll look it up and run an entry on it.
Aaron, I never really understood the John Lewis endorsement of HR Clinton. Lewis was critical of CARTER for being too conservative, and very critical of Bill Clinton. And, of course, Lewis opposed the Iraq war from the beginning and voted against it. So, his endorsement was the MOST puzzling of all the Af-Am pols endorsing Hillary. I thought it might be generational, since younger Af-Am pols like Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr (D-IL) and Governor Deval Patrick (D-MA) were going to Obama, but fear of Clintonian grudges was something I hadn't considered.
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