There have been a LOT of endorsements lately for Obama, so many that it's hard to keep up with them. So, here's a developing list of the endorsements this week. Each is valuable as part of the momentum, providing support through either on the ground GOTV support, local press conferences, free media, etc.
Obviously there are many more that endorsed weeks and months ago. Leaders like John Kerry, Ned Lamont, Pat Leahy, Clair McCaskill, Tim Kaine, and so many more were on the Obama train long ago. So, this is a list of the many who have joined the movement since South Carolina, when Ted Kennedy opened the floodgates. Please do list in the comments any entity or person I may have missed.
UPDATE: Oh, and if you want to dive into the movement, your moment is now! Please dive into Obama's Feb. 5 States page.
General
The Nation
Transport Workers Union of America, switched from Edwards to Obama ("Our members clearly saw both Senator Edwards and Senator Obama as two leaders who could bring the necessary changes that our nation and its working families require. With Senator Edwards out of the race, our officers found it an easy decision to lend our support to the Obama campaign.")
MoveOn.org, which has already started sending its members to Obama's volunteer site.
Mexican American Political Association (SI SE PUEDE WITH OBAMA)
Author Toni Morrison, Nobel winner
Armenian National Committee of America
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker ("It is only Barack Obama, in his person, in his ideas, in his ability to understand and to articulate both our needs and our hopes that provide the potential for strong and fresh leadership")
Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Pres. Eisenhower and lifelong Republican ("It is in this great tradition of crossover voters that I support Barack Obama's candidacy for president. If the Democratic Party chooses Obama as its candidate, this lifelong Republican will work to get him elected and encourage him to seek strategic solutions to meet America's greatest challenges. To be successful, our president will need bipartisan help.")
The Native Times ("Indian Country has been waiting for someone like Barack for a long time. Now is the time for positive change and now is the time to vote Barack Obama on Tuesday, February 5th, 2008 for President of the United States. Native Americans can make history next week if we all pull together and get behind the man who actually wants our vote.")
Arizona
Rep. Raul Grijalva, switches from Edwards
The Arizona Republic
Former Sen. Dennis DeConcini
California
Rep. Anna Eshoo ("Barack Obama inspires me. He gives me hope ... He appeals to the best in us and in doing so he restores the sense of idealism that brought me to public service.")
State Sen. Leland Y. Yee (switched from Edwards to Obama).
L.A. City Councilman Bill Rosendahl, "who is touted as the first and only openly gay member of ... Council."
Rosendahl said he was impressed with Obama's track record on issues of importance to the LGBT community. He specifically noted the following:
·Obama supports the repeal of the entire federal Defense of Marriage Act, and has done so ever since he was a candidate for U.S. Senate in 2004.
·Obama has taken stronger positions on dismantling "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and on fully inclusive workplace protections, than any candidate in the presidential race.
·Obama is a strong supporter of every major piece of LGBT legislation in Congress today.
·Obama supports fair tax treatment for gay and lesbian couples.
·Obama supports equal immigration rights for gay and lesbian couples.
·Obama supports domestic partner benefits for federal workers.
·Obama, while in the Illinois Senate, sponsored a fully inclusive anti-discrimination law that included both sexual orientation and gender identity.
·Obama sponsored the Microbicide Development Act to fund research critical to combating HIV/AIDS in the United States and around the world.
·Obama spoke out on World AIDS Day to an audience of evangelical leaders at Saddleback Church, publicly disagreeing with the leaders in attendance who opposed condom distribution.
·Obama, in Illinois, worked to enact a law that authorizes licensed pharmacists to provide clean needles in small, controlled numbers, a reform that is credited with achieving dramatic declines in the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users.
·Obama, in the U.S. Senate, supported efforts to lift the ban on federal funding for regulated needle exchange programs that are proven to work in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
·Obama has continued to raise the issue of LGBT civil rights in forums and town halls nationwide. During a high-profile speech on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at King's Ebenezer Baptist Church, he challenged his audience to support gay and lesbian rights with the same fervor they brought to their own struggle for civil rights.
"The more I have listened to Barack Obama," Rosendahl said, "the more convinced I have become that his commitment to our civil rights is deep and heartfelt. I am impressed that he continually raises the issue of gay civil rights, even in front of audiences hostile to our issues. I look forward to a Democratic administration that takes up our cause, instead of taking us for granted.
"I strongly urge my fellow LGBT voters in California and across the country to vote for Barack Obama for President."
Ilana Wexler, teenage speaker at 2004 DNC heavily courted by Clinton
California Service Employees International Union, switched from Edwards to Obama
L.A. Times
An Obama presidency would present, as a distinctly American face, a man of African descent, born in the nation's youngest state, with a childhood spent partly in Asia, among Muslims. No public relations campaign could do more than Obama's mere presence in the White House to defuse anti-American passion around the world, nor could any political experience surpass Obama's life story in preparing a president to understand the American character. His candidacy offers Democrats the best hope of leading America into the future, and gives Californians the opportunity to cast their most exciting and consequential ballot in a generation.
In the language of metaphor, Clinton is an essay, solid and reasoned; Obama is a poem, lyric and filled with possibility. Clinton would be a valuable and competent executive, but Obama matches her in substance and adds something that the nation has been missing far too long -- a sense of aspiration.
La Opinión(English version), first ever Democratic primary endorsement
San Jose Mercury News
Fresno Bee, switched from Edwards to Obama
The Bay Times, a S.F. LGBT paper ("Barack Obama is the only candidate who has been inspiring young voters to register and turn out to vote in droves. As Caroline Kennedy so aptly pointed out in her New York Times editorial endorsing Obama, no presidential candidate has inspired a generation entering the political process like Obama since her father was president and her uncle ran for president. Our country is tired, often cynical. It's been a long, long time since we felt inspired and hopeful for the future with any major candidate.")
Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats
Colorado
A number of local leaders:
Former US Rep. David Skaggs (2nd District)
Lt. Col. Jay Fawcett USAF (ret.)/ Dem. Congressional Candidate (CD-5) '06
State Sen. Dan Gibbs
State Rep. Mark Ferrandino
State Rep. Claire Levy
State Rep. Suzanne Williams
Denver City Council President Michael Hancock
Denver City Councilwoman Marcia Johnson
Denver City Councilwoman Peggy Lehman
Denver City Councilman Rick Garcia
Boulder City Councilwomen Suzy Ageton
Boulder City Councilwomen Lisa Morzel
JW Postal, Super Delegate, Vice Chair Western Caucus of the DNC, Former Co-Chair Richardson for President
Debbie K. Marquez, Super Delegate, DNC Member
Dan Slater, Super Delegate, State Party First Vice Chair
Connecticut
Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, former executive director of Emily's List
Rep. John Larson
Rep. Chris Murphey
Yale Daily News
Georgia
Mayor Otis Johnson of Savannah, his first endorsement of a candidate ever
Souther Voice, Atlanta's gay paper ("And on gay issues, Barack is best.")
Idaho
Former Idaho Governor Cecil Andrus ("Andrus, who was President Jimmy Carter's Interior secretary, says his endorsement was stirred by the same emotions that prompted him in 1960 to travel to Lewiston for Kennedy's speech during that year's presidential race.")
Illinois
Chicago Tribune
Chicago Sun-Times
Kansas
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius
Kansas Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, who left the GOP in 2006 ("At a time when bitter partisanship has come to define Washington and stalled progress, Barack Obama stands out as a leader with the unique capacity to unite Americans to take on the challenges we face.")
Massachusetts
Sen. Ted Kennedy
Rep. Michael Capuano
Newsweekly, a Boston LBGT magazine ("What is perhaps most appealing about Obama is that he has been fearless in connecting GLBT equality to his broader civil rights agenda.")
Minnesota
Rep. Jim Oberstar, the dean of the Minnesota congressional delegation and former Edwards supporter ("He has shown an ability to project a soaring image of a future for America that lifts the spirits of young people... and to touch the hearts of seniors as well.")
Missouri
St. Louis Post Dispatch ("The toughest part of any president's job is to inspire and to lead. Think of Franklin Roosevelt and fear itself, of John F. Kennedy challenging America to go to the moon "because it is hard," or Ronald Reagan after the Challenger disaster. Mr. Obama, by virtue of his life story and his compelling gift for oratory, has that kind of capacity.")
The Rolla Daily News
New Jersey
Senate President Richard Codey, who was Edwards' NJ chair ("Barack Obama has the unique ability to rise above the politics of fear and division to bring the change we desperately need," he added. "Like myself, building coalitions to get results has been the cause of Barack Obama's life, not just the rhetoric of a campaign.")
New Mexico
Sante Fe New Mexican
The Albuquerque Tribune ("We have a dream. In it, a new, young president inspires all Americans to rise above partisan politics, gender, race, religion, region, money, ideology and economic philosophy to make this nation all that it can be. That young president of vision and promise is the charismatic Barack Obama, the first-term Democratic Illinois senator whose presidential campaign has caught fire. We add fuel to his blaze by endorsing him in Tuesday's New Mexico caucus to be the Democratic nominee for president.")
New York
Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John F. Kennedy
Elizabeth B. Moynihan, widow of Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Gay City News ("The Illinois senator has spoken of a politics of hope and change, not surprisingly given a life that has included a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, a term as president of the Harvard Law Review and a job as a community organizer on the streets of Chicago.")
Alma Rangel, wife of Rep. Charles Rangel ("I believe Barack Obama has the ability to unify this country and the character to stand up for what’s right instead of what’s popular. Barack is a man of principle; a man whose faith in the greatness of our nation gives us hope, showing us what’s possible if we work together. Barack Obama has brought energy and excitement back to the democratic process, calling on all Americans, young and old, to make their voices heard. Change is the air. Senator Obama is the future, part of the new generation of leaders who can inspire us to transform our country.")
Oneota Daily Star ("An attractive alternative to "Clinton fatigue," Obama's soaring rhetoric has the ability to inspire a new generation to take an active role in government.")
Poughkeepsie local officials, including Chairman Roger Higgins of the Dutchess County Legislature, five other County Legislatures, Beekman Town Councilman Dan French, Poughkeepsie council members Penny Lewis and Gwen Johnson, Poughkeepsie Board of Education chair Randall "Randy" Johnson, Town Supervisor Patricia Myers
North Dakota
Rep. Earl Pomeroy ("I’ve concluded he’s got a different dimension of ability.")
Oregon
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (He "is impressed with Obama's energy and ability to inspire a variety of people - 'not just the core Democratic base but reaching and touching young people, independents and even some Republicans.'")
Rhode Island
Rep. Patrick Kennedy
Tennessee
The Hustler, Vanderbilt's student paper
Virginia
17 delegates:
Majority leader Ward Armstrong, switched from Edward
Del. Dwight Jones, D-Richmond, head of Black Caucus
Del. Vivian Watts, D-Annandale, switched from Edwards
Del. Bob Hull, D-Falls Church, switched from Edward
Del. Kris Amundson, D-Mount Vernon
Del. Kenny Alexander, D-Norfolk
Del. Bob Brink, D-Arlington
Del. David Englin, D-Alexandria
Del. David Marsden, D-Burke
Del. Ken Melvin, D-Portsmouth
Del. Joe Morrisey, D-Highland Springs
Del. Paul Nichols, D-Woodbridge
Del. Ken Plum, D-Reston
Del. Jim Scott, D-Merrifield
Del. Mark Sickles, D-Franconia
Del. Shannon Valentine, D-Lynchburg
Del. Onzlee Ware, D-Roanoke
Washington
Seattle Post-Intelligencer ("The Illinois senator is a candidate particularly well equipped to improve the nation's performance in the world at large.... On domestic issues, Obama's instinct for compromise offers a larger hope for a creative, less-contentious pursuit of a society with better education, health care and job opportunities.")
Prominent Seattle attorney Jenny Durkan, John Edwards' Washington state chairwoman
Seattle MayorGreg Nickels
Wisconsin
Price County Democratic Chairman John Smart :
Price County Democratic Chairman John Smart, one of the party's veteran "happy warriors" in northern Wisconsin, gave up his leader-of-the-party neutrality in the race for the Democratic nomination for president and endorsed U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
"I thought I'd just let the campaigns play out and happily support whoever was left standing," Smart wrote in the Ashland Daily Press. He said he has admired U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) since she visited him and others when he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan in 1997.
But Smart, who is also a Park Falls School Board member, said recent developments have bothered him, including unfair slams of Obama by former President Bill Clinton.