On Mar 21 at a boisterous rally New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson endorsed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) for president, calling Obama a “once-in-a-lifetime leader”.

During a time where Obama is being criticized for remarks by his self-proclaimed spiritual advisor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, as being un-American - Richardson made a point to say:

“You will make every American proud to be an American.”

Obama’s rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) had also vigorously courted Richardson, one of the nation’s leading Latino political figures, ever since he dropped his own presidential campaign.

For many, Richardson’s endorsement of Obama comes as a surprise. Richardson was secretary of energy under former President Bill Clinton’s administration, a position that helped bring him to national prominence and win the governorship of New Mexico in 2002. In fact, political insiders thought Richardson was vying for a spot as Hillary Clinton’s V.P.

Richardson praised Hillary Clinton as a candidate and a leader, and he hailed the achievements of former President Bill Clinton’s administration.

But Richardson said Obama’s speech on race relations on Tuesday largely inspired his endorsement.

The Clinton campaign were quick to diminish the endorsement’s significance.

“You know, look, I think everyone has their endorsers,” chief Clinton strategist Mark Penn said. Given that New Mexico had already voted for Clinton, “perhaps the time when he could have been most effective has long since passed,” he said.

But James Carville, a CNN political analyst and Clinton adviser, had sharper attacks stating that Richardson’s Obama endorsement “came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver.”

Richardson almost seemed ready for this criticism and shot back:

“Well, I’m not going to get in the gutter like that,” Richardson said. “And you know, that’s typical of many of the people around Sen. Clinton. They think they have a sense of entitlement to the presidency.”

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