New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, is endorsing Barack Obama for president:
"I believe he is the kind of once-in-a-lifetime leader that can bring our nation together and restore America's moral leadership in the world," Richardson said in a statement obtained by the AP. "As a presidential candidate, I know full well Sen. Obama's unique moral ability to inspire the American people to confront our urgent challenges at home and abroad in a spirit of bipartisanship and reconciliation."According to Dave Contarino, campaign manager for Richardson's failed attempt to win the Democratic nomination, endorsements don't really matter:[. . .]
Richardson praised Hillary Clinton as a "distinguished leader with vast experience." But the governor said Obama "will be a historic and great president, who can bring us the change we so desperately need by bringing us together as a nation here at home and with our allies abroad."
Even a very popular politician can't really translate his or her support into support for you.Nevertheless, Richardson's endorsement could help Obama gain support among Hispanics. Hillary has done better with Hispanics voters in primaries and caucuses, even winning a nearly 2-to-1 advantage among Hispanics in the New Mexico caucus.[. . .]
More than six in 10 adults say endorsements aren't that important in deciding whom they'll support for president, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll.
In addition, Richardson's endorsement might help Obama change the media's focus away from the videos of Obama's minister of hate spewing divisive and incendiary preachings that even Obama criticized as a "profoundly distorted view of this country — a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam."
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