Bill Richardson, who dropped out of the presidential race after New Hampshire, has come out for Obama. Whilst I've yet to see any evidence from this campaign that endorsements shift votes, it's a useful pick-up for Obama because, as a prominent figure, Richardson might give some wavering superdelegates confidence to do the same. And of course, Richardson (as Governor of New Mexico) has a superdelegate vote himself.
Richardson has been, very publicly, pondering this decision for a while, torn between his loyalty to the Clintons (he held jobs in the Clinton administration) and his growing regard for Obama:
Richardson related an anecdote from one of the debates: He fielded a question and then, as the next point went to another candidate, leaned toward Obama next to him on the stage and whispered, "'Boy some of these debates really boring, aren't they?' Or something like that. And he said, 'Oh god, yeah, you're right.' "
As the two were whispering, a question suddenly veered back to Richardson -- who hadn't been paying attention. "I looked at Obama and he says [whispering] 'Katrina. Katrina.' And I go back and say, 'Well, my three-point plan on Katrina is ...' Obama could have thrown me under the bus. But he didn't. So I said, 'Thanks, Obama,' and he said, 'Just listen next time.'"
There's also the question of who he thinks will win this thing, of course. Richardson sees himself as vice-president or Secretary of State material.
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