Obama picks up heavyweight support, leaves Clinton further behind
May 15, 2008WASHINGTON - It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Barack Obama picked up more heavyweight support Thursday after a key endorsement this week delivered another blow to Hillary Clinton's longshot campaign for the Democratic nomination.
Obama drew at least five delegates from former candidate John Edwards, who jumped off the fence Wednesday to support the front-runner.
Four more super-delegates - party officials and legislators who will decide the race - also lined up, saying the party is near a broad consensus on the nominee.
The new support takes Obama ever closer to the number of delegates needed to win the nomination as he gets ready to face off against Clinton next Tuesday in two more states.
Obama had 1,896 of the 2,026 delegates he needs, compared with 1,718 for Clinton.
He got another boost Wednesday, winning the backing of the powerful United Steelworkers union that once supported Edwards.
The 650,000-member union could be a critical ally for Obama as he struggles to attract the support of blue-collar workers who have been flocking to Clinton.
Union spokesman Marco Trbovich said although the organization doesn't traditionally spend money on advertising, members would become active in remaining primary states, including Kentucky next week.
"We have a very formidable field operation. And within the law, we communicate very significantly to our membership," he said.
Labour unions have increasingly swung to Obama lately, but Clinton still has more of their support.
Backing from the Edwards camp could help narrow an expected loss for Obama in Kentucky. He's favoured to win in Oregon, also voting Tuesday.
Edwards, who collected 19 delegates before dropping out in January, campaigned on a populist message, blasting corporations and sticking up for the working man - a constituency that hasn't warmed to Obama in the last several contests.
Clinton won a landslide this week in West Virginia, with its large proportion of white working-class voters.
But news of Edward's endorsement quickly eclipsed her triumph.
"I have a great deal of respect for Senator Edwards," Clinton said on the campaign trail in South Dakota on Thursday.
"He and I have a lot in common ... I imagine that (his) endorsement will be of some help to Senator Obama in Kentucky, but I think that what matters are the people who actually vote."
Clinton, who can't beat Obama's lead in pledged delegates, has been hoping to convince superdelegates he would be unable to win over average Joes considered crucial in the presidential election against Republican John McCain.
But her arguments have been falling mostly on deaf ears.
Despite her troubles and calls for her to drop out, Clinton said she'll see the contests through.
"There are a lot of people who say: 'Well, we should just wrap this up'," she said.
"Well, I've never been impatient with democracy."
After next week, there are just three contests left in a five-month season that started in January. Puerto Rico votes June 1, while South Dakota and Montana primaries end it all on June 3.
For many, Clinton's uphill battle against Obama appeared to be nearing an end last week after he won in North Carolina and just narrowly lost Indiana.
