Nevada Sen. Reid: Gore's endorsement of Dean is ``really big''

[Freddie Stubbs]

Al Gore's backing of Howard Dean for president is a "really big endorsement" that could help propel the former governor of Vermont to the Democratic nomination, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday.

"I didn't see it coming. I talked to Al Gore a month or so ago and he didn't say anything about it," Reid told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

"Al Gore said early on he wanted to make sure he did endorse somebody and that he wanted to make sure his endorsement really meant something. He sure did that," Reid said.

"I think it is really a big endorsement of Dean. There is still a lot of election left to go but there's no question it helps," he said.

more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/12/09/state1337EST0067.DTL

[GainesT1958]

1. Uh...there's the ENTIRE primary election cycle to go...

Al Gore's announcement didn't "guarantee" or "make inevitable" anything! The only thing it "guaranteed" is Al's support of Dr. Dean which, while extremely helpful, doesn't automatically "deliver" millions of votes Dean's way; actually, in that regard the two union endorsements were a much bigger pair of plums for Dean, IMO.

It's all gotta "play out" first, people, and only THEN will we know!

B-)

[Nazgul35]

2. Actually it does matter...

Those 20-30% of undecideds we see in every poll in every state just received a signal from a Dem that they are aware of about who that person thinks is good...

So their first intro into the process will be favorably inclined towards Dean....this was worth several millions in free advertisement for the Dean campaign....

Watch for those undecided numbers to start dropping...