Hillary ClintonHillary Clinton’s presidential campaign announced its first set of endorsements from Arizona Democrats Wednesday morning. The list includes the top Democrat in the state Senate, Marsha Arzberger of Willcox, leading Latina politician and Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox of Phoenix, and the father-daughter tandem representing Pinal County of Rep. Pete Rios and Sen. Rebecca Rios. (See the complete list below).The list doesn’t include some key figures such as state party financier Jim Pederson and only a couple of people from Pima County, the real stronghold for Arizona Democrats. It also doesn’t include the biggest prize of all, Gov. Janet Napolitano.During the 2004 campaign, Napolitano dangled the opportunity to win her support for months, which drove all of the candidates to spend time campaigning in Arizona. But she waited until John Kerry won the Arizona primary and already appeared headed toward claiming the nomination before she endorsed him. I expect her to be just as cagey for the 2008 election.Candidates of all persuasions are eager to trot out the names of other politicians who publicly back them. They are even more excited when they can point to someone from the other party (such as Republican John McCain picking up an early endorsement from Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, which has angered a variety of other Democrats).But I’ve always wondered just how much influence or benefit such endorsement lists provide candidates. I guess tiny endorsement lists are a signal to news reporters and political pundits that a candidate shouldn’t be taken seriously. And strong lists might help with some fundraising. But I don’t think voters usually care.In 2003-04, Sen. Joe Lieberman had the longest list of endorsements in Arizona among any Democrats running for president. He had started campaigning here much earlier, so he wrapped up a lot of commitments before folks even knew who else would be in the campaign. It became news in some circles when John Kerry’s campaign (with the help of Democrat strategist Mario Diaz) convinced a few politicians to switch their support before the Arizona primary.Lieberman’s lengthy list didn’t do much for him in end, either in fundraising or at the ballot box. Kerry rolled at the polls and went on to get soundly defeated by President Bush in the Arizona general election.Arizona Democrats endorsing Hillary Clinton for president:Senate Minority Leader Marsha Arzberger, WillcoxState Senator Paula Aboud, TucsonState Senator Amanda Aguirre, YumaState Senator Ken Cheuvront, PhoenixFountain Hills Councilwoman Ginny DickeyState Representative Martha Garcia, PhoenixMaricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Garrido WilcoxState Representative Linda Lopez, TucsonState Senator Richard Miranda, PhoenixState Representative Ben Miranda, PhoenixDemocratic National Committee Member Joe RiosHouse Democratic Whip Pete Rios, HaydenState Senate Minority Whip Rebecca Rios, HaydenState Representative Lena Saradnik, Tucson(Source: Hillary Clinton for President)

Posted in: Presidential campaign |

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.