Obama catches Clinton in Capitol Hill endorsements

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has finally caught Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Capitol Hill endorsements.

When unpledged superdelegates Brad Miller (D-N.C.) and Rick Larsen (D-Wash.) became the latest members of Congress to endorse the Illinois senator on Thursday, Obama for the first time in the Democratic presidential primary race tied Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) in the number of public endorsements from lawmakers.

{mosads}Ten months ago, Clinton led Obama in endorsements from legislators, 51-22. Three months ago, she was up 90-62.

Long gone are the days in which it seemed more than unlikely that a first term senator could get more pledged support among members of Congress than a former first lady whose roots reach deep into the party.

As though he knew that Thursday would be the day in which he caught Clinton in yet another statistic, Obama made a triumphant visit to the House floor earlier in the day and enjoyed a celebrity’s welcome.

What makes his latest feat so impressive, apart from the fact that many of the Democrats in the House worked closely together with President Clinton in the 1990s and knew the former first lady from that time, is that it is not just the young lawmakers who have been captivated by Obama’s message of hope and change.

Eight of his Senate supporters are committee chairmen. In total, Obama’s 14 Senate backers have been serving in the upper chamber for more than 250 years. Among them are Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the party’s last presidential nominee, and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the head of the Democrats’ last dynasty before the Clintons.

In the House, Obama has attracted the support of such veteran lawmakers as Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-Wis.), Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and George Miller (D-Calif.), who chairs the Committee on Education and Labor.

In all, Obama and Clinton now have the public support of 99 lawmakers and it is likely that Obama will hit the century mark first.

Since his big win in North Carolina’s primary Tuesday and a close loss on the same night in Indiana, most of the media have treated Obama as the de facto Democratic nominee. While most lawmakers, fearing that a rift in the party could endanger a victory against presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in the fall, are careful not to tell Clinton to quit the race, several Democratic members of Congress have expressed that there has been a significant shift in the race.