I've written before, and likely will write again, that the only endorsements that matter in a presidential race are mayors. Many (not all) have patronage machines that they can wield to move votes to their endorsed candidate.
I learned this the hard way after Dean was endorsed by the likes of Al Gore and other party luminaries to no discernible effect in 2004. Big non-machine endorsements matter lower on the ballot. But at the top, people will make up their own minds on who to support. Senators and congressmen have no machines, since they have no patronage to dole out. Mayors, on the other hand, can deliver thousands of jobs to loyal backers.
That's why Philly mayor Nutter and Gov. Rendell (an old-school machine politician) were able to limit Obama's gains in the Philly metro area to Clinton's big benefit. In fact, Clinton had at least 100 mayors working for her in the Keystone State.
The mayors were big for Clinton. Obama's endorsement by Sen. Bob Casey? Pretty much irrelevant.
So let's head to North Carolina:
In a sign of Senator Obama’s broad, statewide organization, the Obama campaign today announced the endorsement of 43 North Carolina mayors, mayors pro tem, and former mayors, representing cities large and small, from Raleigh to Roper. To encourage North Carolinians to vote early, more than a dozen of these mayors will be voting early today at 1 p.m. at their local One Stop Early Voting locations.
Actually, "former mayors" are pretty irrelevant. No machine. But the campaign did score endorsements from the current mayors of all the biggest cities in North Carolina. Here's the top cities in the state, and whether their mayor has endorsed:
- Charlotte - 695,985 --
Obama Republican mayor
- Raleigh - 374,320- capital -- Obama
- Winston-Salem - 299,290 -- Obama
- Greensboro - 267,884 -- Obama
- Durham - 209,816 -- Obama
- Fayetteville - 203,000 -- No endorsement
- High Point - 105,297 -- No endorsement
- Cary - 125,460 -- Obama
- Wilmington - 100,838 -- No endorsement
- Greenville - 75,482 -- Obama
- Asheville - 72,789 -- Obama
In Indiana, both candidates are getting these endorsements:
- Indianapolis - 781,870 -- Republican mayor
- Fort Wayne - 205,727 -- No endorsement yet
- Evansville - 121,582 -- Obama
- South Bend - 107,789 -- Obama
- Gary - 102,746 -- Obama
- Hammond - 83,048 -- Clinton
- Bloomington - 69,291 -- Obama
- Muncie - 67,430 -- Republican mayor
- Anderson - 59,734 -- Clinton
- Terre Haute - 59,614 -- Republican mayor
Both candidates have also gotten lots of smaller town endorsements (Obama and Clinton here and here). But the big prize, Indianapolis, will be fought sans machine given its (newly elected) Republican mayor.
Evan Bayh's endorsement of Clinton in Indiana? It'll be about as useful as Bob Casey's was for Obama in Pennsylvania.
Update: I goofed on Charlotte. The endorsement was from one of those irrelevant "former mayors" (Harvey Gantt). The current mayor is a Republican.