Obama's Victory: Three Key Endorsements

After Barack Obama secured the Democratic nomination for president, his campaign immediately segued into the general election. Before we're totally submerged by Obama-McCain comparisons, it's informative to consider turning points in Obama's brilliant campaign: three critical endorsements.

Two came near the beginning. The first was by Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. On January 12th, McCaskill endorsed her fellow first-term Senator, saying she did so at the urging of her eighteen-year-old daughter. McCaskill was the first female Democratic Senator to endorse Obama, as most of her Senate sisters -- Mikulski, Feinstein, Stabenow, et al. -- were strong Clinton supporters. Thereafter, McCaskill served as a bridge from the Obama campaign to the feminist Democratic establishment.

McCaskill played a key role in Obama's narrow victory in the February 5th Missouri primary, where he won by ten thousand votes. There were 23 contests that day: Clinton won the biggest states including California and New York, but Obama won the majority, thirteen. While some of his red state victories, such as Alaska, were easily dismissed, skeptics had to take notice of how well he ran in the important swing state of Missouri. The win bolstered Obama's argument that his candidacy had broad appeal.

Senator McCaskill's endorsement came at the same time as that of Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. In retrospect the full-fledged support of these two women punched a sizeable hole in Clinton's mantle of invincibility: they sent a signal that not all powerful Democratic women were behind her candidacy and some believed the less-well-known Obama would be a better President.

The second key endorsement was by Massachusetts Senator Edward ("Teddy") Kennedy. On January 28th, Kennedy, his son, Representative Patrick Kennedy, and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, JFK's daughter, ended their declared neutrality in the race for the Democratic nomination. Teddy Kennedy's support put the imprimatur of the Kennedy family on Obama. Coupled with his victory in South Carolina on January 26th, the endorsement convinced African-Americans that Obama was a legitimate national candidate, someone who had a good chance to garner the Democratic nomination. Thereafter, he got a commanding percentage of the African-American vote in every primary.

The Kennedy stamp of approval sent a strong message to the Democratic establishment that the Kennedy wing of the Party believed Obama best represented the liberal tradition of John and Bobby Kennedy. This was another blow to the Clinton campaign's contention that she was the consensus candidate. Thereafter, Obama consistently garnered the support of both liberal Democrats and those who are highly educated.

Teddy Kennedy is well respected by his Senate peers. His endorsement ensured that Obama would garner many other Senatorial endorsements: he ended up with more than Clinton.

The third critical endorsement came near the end of the campaign. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the female member of the power triumvirate -- Howard Dean, Harry Reid, and Pelosi - running the Democratic Party, stayed in the background for most of the contest, although her closest California Congressional pals, Representatives Anna Eshoo and George Miller were early Obama supporters. However, Pelosi was the most prominent advocate of two procedural positions that ultimately worked to the detriment of the Clinton campaign. One was her steadfast insistence that Democratic candidates play by the rules -- dictates that they had agreed to at the beginning of the competition -- in order to win the Democratic nomination. The Party rules decreed that the ultimate winner would be the candidate who emerged with the most delegates.

Pelosi's other position was that super delegates -- the Democratic elected officials and Party apparatchik whose votes would ultimately decided the nomination -- should wait to see which candidate won the pledged delegate count. By adopting this stance, Pelosi opposed various arguments intended to induce super delegates to flock to the Clinton candidacy. The first was that Clinton was the inevitable Democratic candidate because she had the most experience and would run better against John McCain. After February 5th, the Clinton campaign argued she deserved the super delegate vote because she had won the most important states. Near the end of the competition, the Clinton campaign argued she deserved the super delegate vote because -- by Byzantine Clinton calculation -- she had won the popular vote. Ultimately, because of Pelosi's suasion, none of the Clinton arguments convinced super delegates. On June 3rd they flocked to Obama. The hand of Pelosi moved these delegates.

Senator Obama waged an extraordinary campaign, one that will be studied for years to come. Still, he could not have prevailed without these key endorsements.

Comments

[donkat]

I love CM - she is great. I'm sure the three endorsements helped immensely but credit should be given to the best run campaign. A campaign that changed the way all future campaigns will be run. Efficient, clear message, no drama!

O proved his organizational skills and the wisdom to select and surround himself with the best advisors around. These are just the skills we need in our next Pres. For me, actions always speak louder than words - experience didn't help H - she couldn't handle running a decent campaign, what does that say about how she would conduct herself in the WH?

Experience can be a much over rated attribute - look at Dick C, Don R. and the rest of B & Co. They won by lying, playing the fear card and generally speaking, playing dirty, dirty, dirty. And look at what their experience achieved - we've never been in more trouble.

It's time for a new outlook, a new vision - not the same old crap coming from MC.

[mom2sons]

I've been very impressed by Sen. McCaskill. She is an excellent surrogate. I know she was extremely overjoyed when it was done. She can take pride in the O-Teams historic win. Can't wait to see the look on her face on Jan. 20, 2009. Great job! Two thumbs up and a pound to you Sen. McCaskill. Pretty smile too!

[free4all]

Nancy Pelosi knew what everyone else didnt at that time....that it was the end of the clinton era and it was time for bill and hill to go...she was right and the super delegates realised that and moved to obama...well done nancy!!

[themajor755]

Rabid, good point. Maybe Kennedy 3A and Richardson 3B only because had he come out a bit sooner, Obama might have won Texas (though he did win the most delegates there).

[Northlite]

I was very impressed by Richardson's courage. And now he will always faith "The Wrath and Revenge of the Clintons".

Another important early endorser as the last Dem Presidential candidate was Kerry, who also faced anger from the Clintons and from the many very strong "feminists" in Massachusetts.

[RickO]

Those key endorsements are a big part of conducting that extraordinary campaign and not mutually exclusive. Both campaigns worked hard for endorsements and Obama simply prevailed in these cases.

[RabidRightRebel]

The first two I agree with but your third was just another party crasher. The real third was Bill Richardson who showed other Clinton potential supporters that it was possible to support Obama even if you owed the Clintons for past favors. That took a lot of courage and ceratinly incured the greatest wrath.

[silverball]

....YOU....are absolutely CORRECT!!!....good perspective.......

[Gma11]

Fascinating report. Thank you.

For those of us who came onboard the Obama Express during the process, it's interesting to read such overviews.

I am so proud to have Claire McCaskill in the party!