John Kerry Endorses Barack Obama

In the aftermath of the fur flying over Tom Brokaw's admonishment of Chris Matthews during the New Hampshire Primary coverage and the talking heads still wondering if Senator Clinton's choking up won the day for her all day yesterday, the surprising political news of the day has been Senator John Kerry's endorsement of Senator Barack Obama.*

Kerry endorsed Obama in front of an enthusiastic crowd in the next big Democratic battleground state of South Carolina. While proclaiming that "Barack Obama isn't just going to break the mold, together we're going to shatter it into a million pieces," what will be immensely valuable to Obama's campaign in South Carolina will be Kerry's donor lists, email lists and other national and South Carolina-specific information. Given that Pollster.com's tracking poll of the South Carolina Democratic Primary shows a recent reversal of trends for Clinton and Obama, this is a seemingly timely endorsement for the junior Senator from Illinois.

As an Edwards backer, I am a little disappointed that Senator Kerry didn't endorse former Senator Edwards, but I'm not surprised. In the wake of the 2004 election, Edwards was pointedly critical of some of the campaign management decisions during the Kerry/Edwards Presidential run. While a Kerry endorsement would still leave the former Senator from North Carolina with a tall hill to climb in South Carolina relative to Clinton and Obama, his endorsement of Obama certainly heats things up in the countdown to the South Carolina Primary.

*I do not in any way intend to lessen or demean Governor Bill Richardson's withdrawal from the nominating process that became official earlier today.