Obama picks up another Virginia endorsement

By Jay Warren
WSLS10 Anchor
Published: January 21, 2008

This afternoon, Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Abingdon) will hold a conference call to endorse Sen. Barack Obama.

Is Virginia going for Obama? At this point, it would appear that at least all of our elected officials are. Gov. Tim Kaine was the first governor in the nation to endorse Obama. Since then Obama has picked up the endorsements of former Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, Rep. Bobby Scott, and Richmond mayor and former Gov. Doug Wilder.

In a broader sense, Obama seems to be picking up more endorsements among the so-called Red State Democrats. Those are Democrats living in Republican states. Just since his loss in NH, Obama has gotten the endorsement of Sen. Tim Johnson (SD), Sen. Ben Nelson (NE), Sen. Claire McCaskill (MO), and Gov. Janet Napalitano (AZ).

Obama and Hillary differ very little on the issues and Obama is to the left of Sen. Clinton. So, do these Red State Dems think Obama is more elected than Hillary Clinton? Also, will more VA Democrats endorse Obama before the VA primary on Feb. 12th? The big hold outs are Sen. Jim Webb and former Gov., one time presidential candidate, and current Senate candidate Mark Warner. I imagine all the campaigns are working both men.