Political Endorsements

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama won the endorsement Saturday of Sen. Ben Nelson, a moderate Democrat in largely Republican Nebraska who said he believes Obama has ability to bridge the partisan divide and to carry Democratic candidates across the country to victory in 2008. Nelson, pledging support for his Illinois colleague, said Obama has "the greatest potential to ending the bitterness and poisonous atmosphere in Washington." He said that Obama's victory speech after winning Iowa's Jan.

Now that no clear Democratic front-runner has emerged from the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, a campaign that had been all about momentum and money has become a furious race for the 2,025 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. That gives newfound weight to the preferences of major Democratic Party leaders and elected officials, who can provide organizational help, fundraising aid and a network of supporters. But the endorsements matter for another reason.

Softening his past opposition to changes to California's term-limits law, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is endorsing a Feb. 5 ballot measure that would allow many sitting lawmakers to run for office again this year rather than be forced to leave the Legislature.

The head of the politically powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor said Tuesday that she is endorsing Barack Obama for president. The endorsement by Maria Elena Durazo is a coup for Obama that could help the Illinois senator in his uphill struggle against Hillary Rodham Clinton to win substantial support among Latino voters in Southern California.

Bill has called for Hillary. Antonio has called for Hillary. Barack's people have called, though he has not personally phoned yet. He probably will, though. After all, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina could be an important arrow in a Democratic presidential candidate's quiver of endorsements. Now that her favorite, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, has quit the race, Molina is a sought-after prize.

Democratic Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama on Thursday. "We need a president who can reintroduce America to the world and actually reintroduce America to ourselves," Leahy told reporters in a conference call. "I believe Barack Obama is the best person to do that." The Vermont senator's endorsement gives Obama, of Illinois, the backing of eight Democratic senators, compared with 11 for Sen.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain raised more than $1 million Tuesday on rival Rudolph W. Giuliani's turf and picked up the endorsement of the former New York mayor's longtime nemesis. Former Sen. Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-N.Y.) switched his allegiance in the presidential race from former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, who abandoned his bid Tuesday, to McCain. D'Amato has long been at odds with Giuliani.

The campaign for a $243-million telephone users tax on the Feb. 5 ballot has amassed nearly $2.6 million, almost three-fourths of it from labor unions, according to campaign contribution reports filed Thursday. Unions provided nearly $1.9 million to the Proposition S campaign, which is seeking to preserve a tax on cellular and land line calls that has been challenged repeatedly in court.

Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) endorsed John McCain on Friday, a move likely to give the Republican presidential candidate a boost with the state's Cuban Americans days before the Tuesday primary. "I understand that he is ready on Day One to lead this nation, and I would trust the future and the security of this nation to this man," Martinez said in introducing the Arizona senator to the Latin Builders Assn.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, an icon of Democratic Party politics, plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama today. Kennedy and his niece Caroline Kennedy are to appear with Obama at American University in Washington, according to the candidate's campaign schedule. Caroline Kennedy is the daughter of President Kennedy. Reports that Sen.