Senator Edward M. Kennedy will endorse Barack Obama for president tomorrow, breaking his year-long neutrality to send a powerful signal of where the legendary Massachusetts Democrat sees the party going — and who he thinks is best to lead it.
Kennedy confidantes told the Globe today that the Bay State’s senior senator will appear with Obama and Kennedy’s niece, Caroline Kennedy, at a morning rally at American University in Washington tomorrow to announce his support…
…Kennedy plans to campaign actively for Obama, an aide said, and will focus particularly among Hispanics and labor union members, who are important voting blocks in several Feb. 5 states, including California, New York, New Jersey, Arizona and New Mexico.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) will deliver the Democratic response to the State of the Union on Monday.
And then Tuesday or Wednesday, she plans to endorse Barack Obama, numerous Democratic sources said.
The sources said that Sebelius decided some time ago that Obama was her candidate but decided to wait until after the State of the Union.
U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, says in a statement Sunday that he supports Obama because he can appeal to all sectors of the American public.
Becerra serves on the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee and, as the assistant to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is the highest ranking Latino in the House.
PHOENIX Arizona’s largest newspaper has endorsed Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Barack Obama of Illinois in the presidential primary race.
In editorials posted early Sunday on its Web site, the editorial board of The Arizona Republic said it chose Obama over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic race and that McCain was “the class of the GOP contenders.”
Add that to Gov. Janet Napolitano’s endorsement last week.
Score a big behind the scenes victory for Obama’s California campaign today. Word is leaking out that CTA’s membership staged an outright mutiny at Los Angeles’ Bonaventure Hotel and bucked its own Board’s attempt to railroad through an early endorsement for Hillary. CTA’s elites apparently got a big wake up call when their effort to crown Hillary as the official choice of California’s teachers was upended by overwhelming resistance from rank and file Obama supporters. The vaunted pre Feb 5th CTA endorsement – which was widely expected to go Clinton’s way – appears to now be postponed to April (when we will all be on the edge of our seats, I am sure).
The Hillary repudiation at CTA is more than just inside baseball. This could portend an erosion of support among powerful constituencies that are supposed to be the bedrock of Clinton’s California operation. Add this development with Obama’s superior California ground game, and a big bounce coming out of South Carolina, and he may have enough steam to pull off a victory in the Golden state.
Chicago Tribune endorses Obama, despite their investigation into Rezko:
As this campaign has progressed, Hillary Clinton in moments of crisis hasn’t been an ennobling sight. Her reliance on her husband, the less-than-presidential Bill, to trash-talk Obama reaffirms that the Clintons do whatever it takes to prevail. Depicting Obama’s record on Iraq as a “fairy tale” is instructive: Think what you will of the war, but Sen. Clinton was an enabler when that was popular…
…But given that you’ve not been accused of any crime or ethical breach, your Rezko history is not a deal-breaker.
Nor do we know of similar lapses during the 12 years we’ve been watching Obama.
To the contrary, the professional judgment and personal decency with which he has managed himself and his ambition distinguish Barack Obama. We endorse him convinced that he could lead America in directions that the other Democrats could not.
Seattle Times endorses Obama, without even mentioning Hillary Clinton:
The Seattle Times endorses Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president. He has the grasp, temperament and skills to right our standing in the world. He has broad insight and specific ideas to assuage our own hardworking citizens’ fears of an economy turning sour…
…Obama speaks eloquently about media issues. His positions encourage a public worried about a consolidated media. He supports network neutrality and laments media consolidation. He co-sponsored a bill to stop recent changes to the cross-ownership rule adopted by the Federal Communications Commission. Obama says he would appoint FCC commissioners who will work in the public’s interest and against media concentration.
Obama has the smarts, the plans and, yes, the charisma to capably lead and transform a nation that aches for a new direction.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch endorses Obama:
And we confess to a certain “Clinton fatigue.” The emergence of the former president as the Luca Brasi of the campaign trail reminds us of the worst of the Clinton years: the divisiveness and the bickering; the too-casual, if artful, blend of truth and half-truth. We’re not eager for the replay.
Obviously, some of these endorsements preceded last night’s historic trouncing of the Clintons, but it now appears safe to openly defy the First Family.
