[Marxism] WSJ: Parsing the Endorsement Of Obama by Richardson

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

WALL STREET JOURNAL
March 21, 2008 7:34 a.m. EDT     

THE MORNING BRIEF 
By JOSEPH SCHUMAN       

Parsing the Endorsement Of Obama by Richardson

March 21, 2008 7:34 a.m.

The Morning Brief, a look at the day's biggest news, is emailed to
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A Democratic party effort to avert a prolonged and potentially
damaging nomination fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton
could be jumpstarted today by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's
endorsement of Mr. Obama.

Mr. Richardson plans to make the endorsement at a campaign rally with
Mr. Obama today in Oregon and will call him a "once-in-a-lifetime
leader that can bring our nation together2 and restore America's
moral leadership in the world," the Associated Press reports. It is
an important endorsement on at least three fronts. Mr. Richardson is
an influential superdelegate for the party, whose declaration of
support could draw the backing of other superdelegates needed to
secure the nomination, since neither candidate seems likely to win it
through delegates earned in the primaries and caucuses. He was a
prominent second-tier candidate before the race narrowed to the two
frontrunners, and as such has been courted by both campaigns since he
dropped out. And he is the country's only Hispanic governor, and
could thus help Sen. Obama with a key bloc of voters that has mostly
leaned toward Sen. Clinton. Mr. Richardson, who praised Mr. Obama's
national-security credentials to the AP, also brings the
foreign-policy credibility that came with being ambassador to the
United Nations, energy secretary, and global trouble-shooter 
for the presidential administration of Sen. Clinton's husband.

Mr. Richardson's endorsement comes at a sensitive time for Sens.
Obama and Clinton. The Obama campaign is still waiting to see how
much his standing with voters over the controversial remarks of his
former pastor in Chicago will be affected by his speech this week on
race. It drew praise from many nonpartisan critics who called it one
of the most thoughtful and honest discussions of the subject in
politics, but it was also tainted by the political expediency that
prompted him to make the speech in the first place. Ms. Clinton, who
trails Mr. Obama in the delegate count, in the popular vote this
primary season and in the number of states won or lost, suffered a
setback yesterday in her efforts to catch up when Michigan lawmakers
failed to agree on a way to "do over"3 that state's primary, as the
Detroit News reports. Party efforts to hold new votes in Michigan and
Florida -- where Ms. Clinton won races and delegates the party
currently won't count at the convention -- have gone nowhere.

The next primary is scheduled for April 22 in Pennsylvania, where
Sen. Clinton has been leading in the polls. The significance of Mr.
Richardson's decision might be read in whether the likes of John
Edwards or other prominent Democrats follow his lead before then.

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