Governor Deval Patrick (D-Mass.) officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination at a Boston rally last night, cementing a partnership between two politicians known for their grassroots appeal.
Obama's campaign is "thrilled" about Patrick's support, according to spokesperson Jen Psaki.
"Gov. Patrick is someone who has been a leader in Massachusetts and has really come to be seen as a rising star nationally," Psaki said. "His election last year proved that the voices of everyday Americans are what's most important in the political process."
Like Obama, Patrick is an African-American politician who has received broad support.
"I would say that Sen. Obama and Gov. Patrick have both shown that they can reach across many stereotypes and many divides to unite people behind a common cause," Psaki said.
Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser, who is also a political science professor, agreed, noting that the endorsement "reinforces ... the impression that Obama has that crossover appeal." But Glaser also said this has been obvious ever since Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004.
At Tufts, Obama has a strong fan base, and some of his on-campus supporters got the opportunity to sit on stage with him last night during the rally.
Sophomore Will Ehrenfeld, the co-chair of Tufts' chapter of Students for Barack Obama, was one of them. "It was really a fantastic feeling. It was very inspirational," he said. "It was nice to be rewarded for the hard that we've done on the campaign."
Sophomore Seth Stein, the other co-chair, was not able to make it to the rally last night, but was enthusiastic about the endorsement.
"I'm feeling great about it," he said. "It's important for the campaign to show that Barack Obama can get support from established members of the party."
But even including the backing of the Bay State's highest-ranking official, Obama has still been less adept at shoring up in-state support than his main rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
The only two U.S. congressmen in the state to endorse a candidate so far, Rep. Jim McGovern and Rep. Richard Neal, have backed Clinton, as have state Senate President Therese Murray and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino. All of them are Democrats.
Some of the support for Clinton stems from connections forged during her husband's presidency.
Neal, for example, is a family friend of the Clintons and said that Hillary will bring to the table many of the same policies as Bill.
"There's no question," he said. "I think you can see that many of the same advisors have lined up behind her."
Neal said that he had conversations with other campaigns, but most were not expecting his support. "I think they all pretty much knew where I was going from the beginning," he said.
State Rep. Lida Harkins (D), the majority whip and a Hillary Clinton supporter, said that many Massachusetts politicians and residents feel close to the Clintons.
"[There's] a lot of fondness basically for both of them," she said. "People know them and they like them."
While many state-level politicians are still undecided, Harkins said she has noticed that a number of her female colleagues are aligning themselves with Hillary.
"It's early - some people have chosen not to endorse yet. But I know in terms of my female colleagues, some of them who were reluctant to endorse early are now beginning to come over and endorse Hillary," she said.
This support for Clinton is not unexpected, according to Democratic strategist and political science lecturer Michael Goldman.
"It's fair to say, as is always the case, the frontrunner gets the most endorsements," he said.
But these endorsements have not meant that other candidates have been ignored. Goldman said that Obama, Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) also have in-state support bases. One notable Obama backer has been Alan Solomont, a Democratic fundraiser who teaches at Tufts' Experimental College. He previously supported Bill Clinton and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass).
While Goldman backs former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), he said that Patrick's support for Obama makes sense.
"When Gov. Patrick was running and when he was ... far behind his Democratic primary opponents, Barack Obama, who was at the peak of his ... popularity, came in not once but twice in support of Patrick," he said.
At the time, this was a risky move for Obama. "Barack Obama came in before he knew that Patrick was going to win and more importantly when many people felt that Patrick was going to be easily defeated," Goldman said.
As such, he said that yesterday's endorsement was an example of "fair play."
Patrick formerly worked at the Justice Department under Bill Clinton, so many have attributed the governor's support for Obama to racial considerations.
Goldman said that this is an unfair conclusion. While the former president did campaign for Patrick, it was only after he had won the gubernatorial primary. As a result, Goldman said that Patrick has stronger ties to Obama.
"It's a mistake to think that the reason that Patrick is with Obama is that they are both black," he said.
Now that Obama's campaign has secured Patrick's support, it will try to use it as a springboard for its in-state efforts. But it is still unclear how much political capital the endorsement will give Obama's candidacy.
"I don't know that any one endorsement is that important. So does it cross the threshold of significance?" Glaser asked of Patrick's support. "Probably not, but there's a little message in it, I think."
Goldman said that endorsements mostly serve to give candidates some media attention, although they do not necessarily lead to an upswing in support.
"What it gives you is an opportunity to get another brief moment of political daylight," he said.
They can also provide candidates with structural resources.
"I think it's helpful in terms of building an organization, but I think it's difficult to transfer your own popularity to other candidates," Harkins said.
These organizational benefits are largely what Psaki sees as the potential fruits of Patrick's nod. "Ultimately, what's important here is this campaign is not just about endorsements," she said. "It's about encouraging people to play an active role."
Since the governor is providing more than a "check-the-box endorsement," Psaki is optimistic that such encouragement will stem from his support.
Even if endorsements can bring about this backing, most Bay State politicians have so far opted to stay out of the fray.
Massachusetts Sens. John Kerry (D) and Ted Kennedy (D) are both uncommitted, as are a number of state legislators and the majority the state's U.S. representatives.
"I haven't seen much involvement in the presidential race so far," Republican State Sen. Scott Brown (LA '81), who is backing Mitt Romney, said in an e-mail.
Still, he said that many politicians have already formed personal opinions. "Most Democrats I know are leaning toward Hillary or Obama but have not formally endorsed anyone," he said.
According to Goldman, even those who have committed themselves to a candidate would in most cases have no problem supporting whoever makes it through the primaries.
"This is about the strongest field of Democratic candidates that I've ever seen," he said.
