Gov Strickland of Ohio is one of the most stalwart supporters of Clinton's campaign. He just announced his endorsement of Obama
FirstRead link
Governor Ted Strickland issued the following statement this afternoon:
"Today, I announce my wholehearted and enthusiastic support for Barack Obama for President of the United States.
Earlier today I talked with Sen. Hillary Clinton. I thanked her for her friendship and the strong effort she put forth in this historic campaign. I pledged to work with her to unify the party and to make sure that Barack Obama wins the presidency.
Ohioans have suffered as a result of the failed policies of the Bush Administration, including job loss as a result of rising fuel prices. Ohioans desperately want real, meaningful change. And I believe Barack Obama will bring that change."
This is notable because of the intensity of Strickland's support of Clinton. His powerful state party machine was a formidable force for Clinton in the primary. Having his enthusiastic support in the GE will be important.
I guess one caveat is that "machine politics" is not what Obama's vision is all about. So we'll have to see how much synergy comes of the meetup between machine politics and the Obama movement.
Update x 1: According to Daniel Gruhn, The entire NY House Delegation endorsed also. I have not seen a link.
Update x 2 Below anastasia p makes informative comments
But Ohio's not a state-machine state and the Democratic party, decimated after 16 years of Republican missrule, is just rebuilding (it was nonexistent in 2004).
I defer to her knowledge and would simply state that is he an influential politician with many important connections there.