Endorsements

So here's a little story for you:

Endoresments from state reps. and congresspeople per state for Dean: IA:2, NH: 25, SC: 3, OK:0, MI: o AZ: 1 . he has a few from ex-gov's, etc.

Now for Edwards: miserable in NH and IA, huge in OK (21) and SC (10)

kerry: 8 in NH, elsewhere horrible

Gephardt: 15 in NH, 1 or 2 in IA. none others

Lieberman: 11 in NH, 10 in AZ, 8 in OK, 5 in SC..or so

So what does this mean. Dean is dominating NH, while Edwards is stealing the show in OK and SC. Dean needs to win these states in order to be a legitimate candidate in the eyes of the general public!
He needs to win these conservative states and a great way to get started is to get endorsements. Any ideas or anyone know anything else? John Conyers' endorsement will certainly help!

Epoch

The endorsements that I believe carry the most weight are those of former Democratic Presidents and Vice Presidents. They know the ropes when campaigning in the primaries, and what is involved in building the fundraising network needed to run a campaign.

(Presidents)
Bill Clinton...clearly his endorsement is the most sought after, as a sucessful two-term President and a sharp contrast to the current incumbent. The question is will he endorse the same candidate that Senator Clinton endorses?

Jimmy Carter...won the White House by defeating an arrogent incumbent, and won the party's nomination twice. After winning the noble peace price and opposing the war in Iraq, his endorsement would provide a considerable boost for any primary candidate.

(Vice Presidents)
Al Gore...one of the most popular Vice Presidents in modern history. After winning the nomination for President without losing a primary and winning the popular vote in the general election, Gore is still a force that all candidates must recken with.

Walter Mondale...as a Vice President and a contender in the 84' primaries, Mondale was liberal wing of the Democratic party. This is why Carter picked him to be his running mate, and why Mondale was the last nominee to make liberalism the focus of his campaign. However since his defeat to Reagan in 84', followed by his loss in his Senate race last year...it can be assumed that most primary candidates will not be actively seeking Mondale's endorsement.

Fritz is still a liberal hero in the Humphrey tradition in Minnesota and while he lost to that asshole Coleman in his six day campaign he still won more well over a million votes and has the gratitude and respect of a wide cross section of Minnesotans and traditional liberals across the country. In a primary his endorsement in Minnesota would be as crucial as anyones.

I don't see most of the major leaders in the party,past or present, endorsing anyone. I doubt that Bill Clinton would get involved in the primary. If they did endorse someone it would of course be huge for that candidate.

Have Carter and Mondale endorsed candidates in the past?

former Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Senate Democratic Leaders, and Speakers are all superdelegates.

And IMHO those endorsements would be very important. A B. Clinton or Gore endorsement would probably propel the endorsee into front-runner status overnight. I'd think that both Clintons would support the same person, but who knows?

Although a Carter or Mondale endorsement would not be as important, I think that both (especially Carter) would still be viewed as a big deal, especially by DU.

Hahah.

Tried google, couldn't get much concrete, but he certainly supported Gore in 2000.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/election2000/demconvention/carter_8-14.html

snip

I think that after President Clinton's speech and his departure the following morning, the Democratic Party structure, the political institution that encompasses me and all of the Democrats will be led by Al Gore and Joe Lieberman.

Mondale has made endorsements at the state level:
Former Vice President Walter Mondale and wife Joan endorse candidacy of Sen. Roger Moe for governor
http://www.hometownsource.com/capitol/2002/april/23moe.html

That's all I found...

According to David Brinkley, Jimmy Carter played an active role in supporting the Mondale campaign in the 84' primaries. Regarding the 1988 primaries Brinkley wrote "Carter was for his part sympathetic to Jesse Jackson's run for the White House. When the reverend decried the economic violence caused by the 'merger maniacs' and 'corporate barracudas' Carter was all Amens. Carter and Jackson, men of the South, shared the Baptist belief in Christain compassion as the springboard for uplifting social change."

In 1992 Carter made a pledge not to endorse any candidate before the Georgia primary, but he later revealed in an interview that..he and his wife supported Clinton in the primaries.

"The Carter Center's work is now so totally non-partisan, multi-partisan, that I didn't want to make a major talk. And then the idea was sent to me by Al Gore, why don't you come to the convention, enjoy yourself, join your family who are already scheduled to be there, and let us do a video presentation about your life in the White House and so forth to let the Democrats express their appreciation for your service. And so that appealed to me, so that's why we came, so I'm looking forward to a very pleasant evening without the chore and obligation of having to make a major speech."

In 2000 everyone knew Gore was going to be the nominee, so his endorsement did not alienate him from other Democrats or nonpartison voters. But is it likely that Carter will get involved in the current campaign?

if anybody is interested in superdelegate endorsements, see my website at http://www.freewebs.com/goobergunch/pdem.html .

I am entirely supportive of endorsements and the political involvement of Democratic officeholders in the campaign. However, shouldn't every delegate vote be tied to the popular vote a state's primary or caucus?

Do you agree that before Democrats can hope to reform to the nation, we must begin within our party?

Although it's nice to give the party leaders and elected officials their due, it's clearly more democratic to allow the people to have total control over the nominating process.

Maybe a compromise solution will be expanding "Pledged PLEOs", which are party leaders and elected officials who are pledged to a particular candidate-the ratio is determined by the state-wide presidential preference vote.

Hillary Clinton has said she doesn't make endorsements during the primaries.