Do Political Endorsements Mean Anything?

News this morning that Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT) is going to endorse Obama – the most recent of several politicians to do so in recent days. But here’s the question: do these political endorsements actually matter at all?

What does it matter that Leahy, Senator from heavily Democratic Vermont  (that votes in a primary March  4th ) is endorsing Obama, who needs wins in Nevada and South Carolina?

Well for one, it sure helps by getting the Obama campaign a new list of supporters and potential donations. And it starts to break down Hillary’s aura of “inevitability” when established figures like Leahy and Kerry come out for Obama.

It also surely doesn’t hurt to have senior members of the party like these Senators and Rep. George Miller, Speaker Pelosi’s right-hand man, endorse Obama, especially when his opponent is the established Sen. Clinton.

So while I doubt any voter is going to say, “Oh, Leahy’s come out for Obama, now I will too,” it’s just another step in the process towards a nomination.

 

Mercury – Revealed!

NASA’s flyby of Mercury is providing the first close-up looks at the planet in quite a number of years. While we won’t get to see all 1200 of the photos for a bit, check out this one shot – pretty cool! Looks a lot like the moon at first glance, no?

 

The Absurdity Continues

Looks like Mittens Romney is a big winner tonight in Michigan…which will encourage him to spend his millions to fight for the GOP nomination and ensures their ridiculousness continues for a while longer! Whoo-hoo!

 

Like Rats from a Sinking Ship

Another Republican, Richard Baker (LA-06), is leaving Congress for greener (richer) pastures:

The dean of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, Rep. Richard Baker, has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years to take a job in the private sector representing investors he has spent a career regulating.

Rep. Richard Baker has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years.

The announcement by the Baton Rouge Republican was not unexpected and makes him the third member of the state’s seven-member House delegation to resign or announce plans to resign in the past two months.

Baker, 59, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, will take the helm of the Managed Funds Association, the industry group that represents the $1.8 trillion hedge fund industry. Baker notified the House Ethics Committee 11 days ago that he had been approached by the group about becoming president and CEO.

He will step down February 7, triggering another special election in Louisiana – and more money the Republicans have to spend to defend their seats. This one could be pretty competitive.

Another one bites the dust.

 

What Will El Jobso Bring?

Macworld 2008’s Keynote is today, meaning it’s pretty likely we’ll see some new Apple products and other reasons to give Steve Jobs our hard-earned cash. Everyone is going crazy with predictions about a “Macbook Air,” and ultraslim laptop.

I’m going to go on the record and say I think it’ll be announced today, but the big secret is that it’ll work on the WiMax network that Sprint is trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to make prevalent. We’ll see!

I’m going to be following it via Gizmodo’s liveblog (I really prefer Gizmodo to Engadget for some reason, maybe they’re just way funnier): right here.

 

Nice!

Victoria’s Secret is going to be airing an ad in the Super Bowl, for the first time since 1999.

 

Mittens’ Last Stand

Mitt Romney, after an appropriately disappointing finish in New Hampshire, is betting the house on the Michigan Primary tomorrow. If he doesn’t finish first in the state his Daddy ran as Governor, there’s a very good chance he’ll pack up his millions and leave the race.

On the one hand, that’s great news for anyone who knows Mitt Romney, and what a horrible President he’d make. He did manage to start dismantling Massachusetts, after all. On the other hand, Mittens leaving the race would mean far less hilarity in the Republican primary. I’d love to see this be a months-long clusterf**k that ends only after Huckabee announces he’s dropping out after speaking with God and McCain and Romney have a steel-cage match on the floor of the convention. So since the Michigan Democratic Primary means nothing, should Democrats there vote Mitt to keep him in the race? Why not?!?

 

An Interesting Question

Marc Ambinder, whose reporting on the primaries is a must-read, looks at whether Mike Bloomberg could finance the campaign if he were to run as a vice-presidential candidate:

The legal question would be whether the FEC (if we ever have an FEC again) would attribute Bloomberg’s spending as as VP candidate as going towards electing his Presidential running-mate (and therefore would be subject to the contribution limits). It’s a totally open and novel question.

Bloomberg doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would want to run as a VP – I don’t think he’ll even get in this race unless he’s very confident he can win. But who knows? It certainly would be an interesting scenario, and a tough one for whoever the nominee is to turn down. Imagine essentially not having to do fundraising as a Presidential candidate. It would turn campaigning on its head.

 

A-Rod Wins MVP

In a surprise to no one, Alex Rodriguez won this year’s AL MVP today in a landslide!

Congrats go out to A-Rod, he deserves this award. While drama follows this guy around in a big way (which I still say makes him perfect for New York), he really is amazing to watch on the field. I can’t wait to see him in a Yankees uniform again next season.

 

The Best Campaign Ad – by Far

I got this in an email this weekend, but haven’t had a chance to post it until now. Awesome.

Best line: “Chuck Norris doesn’t endorse, he tells America how it’s gonna be.”