Perfect timing: Obama's super show-stoppers - Jeanne Cummings

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Perfect timing: Obama's super show-stoppers

By JEANNE CUMMINGS | 5/16/08 4:40 AM EST

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Former presidential challenger John Edwards went on stage this week in Michigan endorsing Barack Obama and put the brakes on any momentum Hillary Clinton might have seized from her West Virginia primary rout.

Photo: AP

With her deep party ties, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was supposed to own the superdelegate primary.

But in the last two months, it’s been the rookie, Democratic rival Barack Obama, who has maximized his superdelegate moments.

When new images of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s “Goddamn” America sermon emerged in March, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was escorted to a stage to dub the Illinois senator a "once-in-a-lifetime leader” and steady the candidate.

In the aftermath of another staggering wave of Wright publicity, and after Obama was thrashed in the Pennsylvania primary, it was former Democratic National Committee chairman and one-time Clinton backer Joe Andrew’s turn to stanch the bleeding, as Obama fought for a close finish in Andrew’s home state of Indiana.

And then there was former presidential challenger John Edwards on stage this week in Michigan, endorsing Obama and putting the brakes on any momentum Clinton might have seized from her West Virginia primary rout.

It is unclear whether the timing of these show-stopping endorsements was the product of luck or design. Both the candidates and the superdelegates are on virgin turf, feeling their way through a primary phase that hasn't been tested since the nominating rules were written in the late 1980s.

Obama’s campaign won’t elaborate on its superdelegate strategy. “As people tell us they support us, we release it,” said Bill Burton, a campaign spokesman.

That’s pretty much how it worked in Andrew’s case.

In an interview, the former DNC chairman said the campaign never overtly asked for his support since he’d already announced his backing of Clinton. But it stayed in contact with him, seeking guidance on issues or strategy.

That lack of pressure impressed Andrew, who said he viewed it as “part and parcel with their commitment not to play the political game the old way.”

Once he made up his mind to switch his pledge, he called the campaign on a Tuesday and said he would like to go public on Thursday when he could get back home to Indiana from Washington.

“They said, ‘OK,’” Andrew said.

Such a hands-off approach, of course, doesn’t fully explain the made-for-television moments that surrounded the Edwards and Richardson endorsements. And people close to the campaign say that some superdelegate announcements have been delayed a day or two to ensure full impact.

Richardson, a former Bill Clinton Cabinet secretary, has told reporters that he decided to endorse Obama a week before it became public. The Obama campaign, on the day of the announcement, said only that the governor had informed it “recently” about his decision.

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LogicalSolutions

Party: Independent

Reply #1

Date: May. 16, 2008 - 4:50 AM EST ^updated

Brave John Edwards... Kinda like joining the war just before the victory parade.

He also has a zero carbon footprint ya know.... because he buys carbon credits (aka cow flatulence credits) for his 26,000 sq ft and then chastises anyone who doesn't do the same hypocrisy dance.

John, there are two Americas, your LaLa Land and real America... may they never merge.

Illegal immigration is to immigration what a bank heist is to a bank withdrawl

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