Senator Stabenow will become the highest ranking Michigan official to endorse Hillary.  She joins a growing list of leading Michigan folk who have endorsed Senator Clinton:

State Senate Democratic Leader Mark Schauer, Battle Creek
State Senator Jim Barcia
State Senator Liz Brater, Ann Arbor
State Senator Gilda Jacobs, Oakland County
State Representative Robert Jones, Kalamazoo
Mayor of Lansing Virg Bernero
Former Governor Jim Blanchard and Janet Blanchard

Senator Stabenow also becomes the 8th US Senator to endorse Hillary:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)
Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.)
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)

In other Hillary news, not to be too outdone by Oprah ;-), Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie held a big fund-raising bash in Los Angeles.

Houston Chronicle

Hillary Rodham Clinton pursued votes Friday in Los Angeles' historical black heartland with basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson at her side. Less than a week ago, her rival Barack Obama banked $3 million at a fundraiser at Oprah Winfrey's seaside estate.

For the two leading Democratic presidential contenders, the dueling events just six days apart highlighted the stiff competition for support and dollars within a key voter group — blacks.

Johnson, the former Los Angeles Lakers star whose business interests range from movie theaters to health clubs, was also holding a fundraiser for Clinton at his Beverly Hills home Friday night. It was expected to be smaller than the lavish event staged by Winfrey for Obama, an Illinois senator, on Sept. 8.

Johnson's fundraiser was co-hosted by music industry heavyweights Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy and Clarence Avant, and scheduled guests included Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The divided loyalties show "the community just isn't going to go lockstep behind any candidate, even a black one," said University of California, at Los Angeles, political scientist Franklin Gilliam Jr.

Los Angeles Times

Magic gives Clinton a boost in L.A.

Before a largely black crowd, the former Laker focuses on the Democratic candidate's experience -- making no mention of Obama.

By Cathleen Decker, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 15, 2007
Barack Obama's name was never mentioned. In the meeting room at King/Drew Magnet High School in Willowbrook, the word on everyone's lips as they lauded Democratic presidential contender Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday was experience.

"On a championship team, we need experience; we need a veteran," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, said of Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.). "We need someone who's been through a championship game, played at a championship level."

Former Los Angeles Laker Earvin "Magic" Johnson, whose formal endorsement of Clinton was the campaign's news of the day, furthered the argument.

"The president that we have in there now has gotten us so far in debt," Johnson said. "We need an experienced person to get us out of debt."

Although the name of Sen. Obama (D-Ill.) was not uttered, he was the clear subtext to Clinton's appearance before several hundred community leaders and students, most of them African American. The implicit message to the audience and to those who might see broadcasts -- 10 TV cameras were present -- was that Clinton's experience trumped any emotional tug from the man running to be the first black president.

There were repeated references to her work as a poverty lawyer, her many visits here, her partnership with Bill Clinton -- who is still popular among black voters -- and her three decades in public life. The unspoken contrast: Obama's eight years in the Illinois state Senate and less than three in national office.

The event itself, with Johnson embracing Clinton figuratively and literally, was meant to bolster the idea that she passes muster.

"He's an icon to a lot of blacks, not just as an African American but as a sports star, and he's got crossover appeal to nonblacks," said Garry South, a veteran Democratic consultant who is not aligned in the 2008 race.

Although endorsements like Johnson's rarely make a huge difference, "voters do take cues and clues from popular figures about the acceptability of candidates running for public office," South said. "So this is sending signals. It's about sending messages."

It was also about money, with a fundraiser Friday night for Clinton at the Beverly Hills home of Johnson and his wife, Cookie. Campaign officials said several hundred were invited, with tickets $500 each. The gathering was the oddly logical bookend to last Saturday's fundraiser for Obama hosted by Oprah Winfrey.