Obama Catches Clinton in Support From Superdelegate Lawmakers

[southern_belle]

Barack Obama has pulled even with Hillary Clinton in endorsements from top elected officials, with a surge in support from congressional freshmen and governors from Republican-dominated states.

Obama yesterday won the backing of Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, who became the sixth head of a Republican-leaning state to come out for him in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. In the past week, Obama picked up support from first-term Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Bob Casey of Pennsylvania. Clinton, backed by two governors from Republican states, gained no superdelegates in that time.

Obama, 46, is endorsed by 16 U.S. House freshmen to Clinton's 6, and 40 percent of his congressional allies are from ``red states,'' or those that voted for President George W. Bush in 2004, compared with one-quarter for Clinton. That bolsters the Obama campaign's argument that he would have broader backing in the general election.

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Obama, an Illinois senator, has the support of 99 Democratic U.S. lawmakers and governors, compared with Clinton's 96 -- a dramatic turnabout since the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, when Clinton, a New York senator, had more than double Obama's support within this group, 91 to 43.

:applause:

Edited to add link: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=a1x33cpzAa4Y