The largest service union in the United States of America is on the verge of endorsing Barack Obama in lieu of the Ohio/Texas/Pennsylvania primaries. (note: Texas is a hybrid primary/caucus)
This endorsement is sweet because the majority of it's members fall into these various categories low-income/blue-collar types/minorities-LATINOS/and single women.
I can't but forget to remember that this was the labor union that endorsed John Edwards before he suspended his campaign last month.
TalkingPointsMemo reports that Lincoln Chafee has endorsed Obama.
The Obama campaign will reveal the mystery endorsement at 11 am this morning. I wonder which individual publicly throws out their support for Obama that the campaig would leak this information to the media beforehand. Does Russ Feingold's name ring a bell?
Anyway, the argument goes do endorsements really matter? In the long run, economics would teach us that political endorsements have very little marginal utility on shaping the outcome of a race. However, in the short-run, the loads of free-media, and frenzy, created by these endorsement based new conferences can help create/continue positive momentum for a particular candidate heading into an election.
My bullshit prediction is that Russ Feingold or John Edwards is publicly throwing their support towards Obama. I'm leaning on Feingold since the Wisconsin election is next Tuesday.
The story of the day is that former Clinton campaign manager David Wilhelm is officially endorsing Barack Obama for president. I never thought that day would come where ex-Clintonites would jump ship and endorse the possible future president of this country. Also, Mr. Wilhelm use to be the head of the Democratic National Committee and gained superdelegate satuture in the process.
Everybody let's start making predictions for Maine, Maryland, Virginia, and D.C.
Firstly, I believe Obama will win in Maine 58 to 42 percent.
I believe the Clintons' strong organization in the state as well as victories in nearby blue states (New Hampshire/Massachusetts) will make her solidly viable tonight.
However, the enthusiasm by Obama supporters showed this weekend in Maine will dwarf any possibility for the Clinton camp to be victorious.
Early this morning, liberal Virginia representative Jim Moran (8th-District) announced that he is going endorse Barack Obama at a rally in Alexandria, Virginia this afternoon. There isn't much information on this endorsement other than that it's more free media and support for the Obama campaign from an anti Iraq War congressman who voted against the war in 2002. The momentum from last night is surely to continue through next week as well into March.
The early exit polling from Lousiana is confirming that half the voters who participated in the parimary where African American and approximately 20% said race influenced their voting choice.
In other news, the Omaha World Herlad is reporting that Obama won 76% of the caucusgoers vote in Nebraska's second district. The final tally was 12,252 votes, to Clinton's 3,709 votes.
This is the delegate FAQ
* In a three-delegate district, if you get 50% plus one, you get two delegates. (Yes, that's a huge bonus for winning by a single vote.)
* In a four-delegate district, however, a 51-49% outcome leads to a 2-2 split among delegates. Even a 60-40 split is still 2-2. The winning candidate has to get to 62.5% to earn a 3-1 split.
* In a five-delegate district, unless the winning candidate gets over 70% of vote, it's going to be a 3-2 split.
* In a six-delegate district, it's going to be a 3-3 split, unless the winning candidate gets over 58.4%, then it's a 4-2 split. 75% of the vote earns a 5-1 split.
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