Moderate Senators Rally Around Obama

Josh Marshall has a good piece up detailing the wave of significant Senate endorsements for Barack Obama's presidential bid. He takes special note of the so-called "Red-State Democrats." Consider the list of those who have come out for Obama in the past few days:

Missouri's Claire McCaskill
South Dakota's Tim Johnson
Nebraska's Ben Nelson

Each of these moderate Dems backed Obama following his loss in New Hampshire. Additionally, Obama has also gotten the high-profile nod from Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano and John Kerry (for better or worse).

Senator Nelson articulated his decision, saying that Obama has,

"the greatest potential to ending the bitterness and poisonous atmosphere in Washington."

Hillary Clinton has her own stable of Senators, too. California's Diane Feinstein, and Indiana's Evan Bayh offered support back when it seemed as thought Hillary was a shoe-in.

Given that the Senators in question have worked closely with both Hillary Clinton and Obama, their endorsements may offer us a bit more clarity than, say, a movie actor, talk show host, or Hollywood filmmaker. One thing that is clear is that Barack Obama's Iowa win, and close second in New Hampshire made a lot of Democrats believe that he could actually win. If there's no doubt in your mind that Clinton will be the nominee, you're not likely to go on record as having supported her competition, even if you don't fully support her.