MN Senator, NC House Members to Back Obama
Sen. Barack Obama picks up another importance endorsement, and another superdelegate, today when Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will announce her support during a conference call with reporters.
In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Klobuchar said Obama "has inspired an enthusiasm and idealism that we have not seen in this country in a long time."
Klobuchar, a freshman Democrat, said Obama speaks "with a different voice, bringing a new perspective and inspiring a real excitement from the American people." She compared him to the late Hubert Humphrey, who served as a senator from Minnesota and as vice president.
Obama carried Minnesota by a wide margin over rival Sen. Hillary Clinton. The Obama campaign says that Klobuchar is the 64th superdelegate to endorse him since the Feb. 5th Super Tuesday contests. Clinton has gotten nine since that date.
Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that North Carolina's seven Democratic House members are preparing to endorse Obama as a group, Just one has done so already.
The Journal also reports that both Sen. Klobuchar and Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey -- who endorsed Obama last week -- had originally planned to remain neutral, but "decided to weigh in as the Democrats' campaign became more negative and Sen. McCain was free to exploit the confusion looking to the November election."
The Clinton camp continued to reject the idea that a prolonged campaign would hurt the party. Over the weekend. Former Pres. Bill Clinton told 2000 attendees at the California State Democratic Convention to "chill out" about the process. Sen. Clinton said she planned to fight until the convention in August if need be. And even Sen. Obama said that Clinton should remain in the race as long as she wants to, calling her a "fierce, formidable opponent."
8:45 AM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink
