Red state senator endorses Obama, citing broad appeal

Nick Juliano Published: Wednesday February 27, 2008 |
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Sen. Barack Obama picked up an endorsement from his colleague Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota senator whose record of supporting labor and opposition to NAFTA could help Obama in Tuesday's Ohio Democratic primary.

Dorgan announced his support in a Wednesday afternoon conference call, where he praised Obama's record on trade and labor and called Obama the best chance for Democrats to expand their appeal across the country.

"Obama has done well in red states, bringing new people into this campaign," Dorgan said. "One reason we've lost so many states is because candidates have given up on these states before the campaign begins. Sen. Obama is not going to do that."

Dorgan is the 10th senator to endorse Obama, following former presidential candidate Chris Dodd giving Obama his support Tuesday. Clinton has been endorsed by 13 senators, while 24 Democrats in the chamber are still on the sidelines of the presidential race.

Although North Dakota's other senator, Kent Conrad, and its lone representative, Earl Pomeroy, also are Democrats, the state has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, Dorgan said. He noted that the only other Democratic president the state supported was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who served from 1933 to 1945. The two most recent Democratic contenders, John Kerry and Al Gore, lost the state by 30 and 28 points, he said.

"I and others in our part of the country are really interested in having a candidate at the top of the ticket who isn't going to give up on these states before the campaign begins," Dorgan said.

Obama is that candidate, he said, recounting the results of North Dakota's Super Tuesday caucus. Obama won with 61 percent of the vote in that caucus, which drew twice as many Democrats as Republicans out to vote.

"That has really inspired me," Dorgan said. "And I realize that he's running the type of campaign that's making a real difference."

This audio is from The Ed Schultz Show, broadcast February 27, 2008.