Key political pieces falling into place for SC and Nevada

Contributed by Paul Collins

With Richardson now bowing out of the race, and with key endorsements from a powerful union in Nevada and an "establishment" senator, it would seem that Obama is even better positioned to regain his front runner status.

Obama has the largest and strongest field organization in Nevada. Almost twice the field offices as any other candidate.
While Richardson ran a campaign that sought (effectively, some say) to promote change while touting his lengthly public office resume, his message leaned heavily on the change end of the spectrum.
This bodes well for Obama who is well positioned to pick up those votes.

Add to that the endorsement from the influential Culinary Workers Union, and the pot just gets sweeter.
In Nevada (as in many southwestern states), the Latino vote is extremely important, and the Culinary Workers Union has a large Latino membership.

J. Patrick Coolican notes in his Op Ed for the Nevada Democratic Caucus web site:

"Paul Lopez, a 29-year-old Denver City Council member and a rising star in politics there, was in town recently for a weekend of this intimate canvassing.

Asked about the best way to reach Hispanic voters, he pointed to his shoes. Door-to-door and face-to-face. In other words, winning among Latinos is like winning with everyone else."

Obama's large field organization, and propensity for door to door campaigning are a natural fit for Nevada.

In South Carolina, conventional wisdom is that Obama will have tremendous support. While some in the media still attempt to distort the issue of African-American support for Obama, it is widely believed that South Carolina, with it's large percentage of black voters, will come out strongly for him.
The announcement of John Kerry's endorsement in South Carolina strongly echos the national sentiment that Obama, is the better candidate to bring about change in Washington. By choosing Obama over his own former running mate, Kerry, who is known for taking his time with deciding on endorsements, sent a strong message to voters who may have been on the fence between the two change candidates.
Additionally, as an "establishment" politician, Kerry's support also helps to shoot down the Clinton camp's argument that Obama is yet not ready for office.