By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer

Posted Feb. 5, 2008 – The Super Bowl of the 2008 election is less than 24 hours away, and Sunday’s super line-up for Barack ’08  just added another high-profile endorsement,  California’s first lady Maria Shriver.

Shriver, the wife of California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a surprise for folks attending the rally that was designed to woo women voters to the Obama camp.  By the time Shriver made a surprise entry onto the stage at the University of California in Los Angeles, Oprah Winfrey, Caroline Kennedy (Shriver’s cousin and the daughter of the President John F. Kennedy), labor leader Maria Elena Durazo and Michelle Obama were already rocking the house. .

The ear-shattering cheers, chants and applause rising from the UCLA arena rivaled that emanating from the crowd at Super Bowl XLII in University of Phoenix Stadium.

“I would ask you to go out, to follow your heart, to be proud that you’re doing that, and remember that so goes California, so goes the nation,” Shriver said. 

The crowd of mostly women, ranging from age 8 to 80, Black, White and Latino were hanging on her every word.  Shriver went on to say, “If Barack Obama were a state he’d be California.”  Listing his qualities as: “diverse, open, smart, independent, bucks tradition, innovative, inspiring, dreamer, leader.”

It’s getting harder to keep track of the number of endorsements flowing through my email each day. But these high profiles, coupled with new television ads, are keeping both candidates working hard.  

Of course, Shriver’s vote for a Dem may be cancelled out by her husband’s support for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a Republican.  California is one of the 22 states with delegates up for grabs, and California has one of the largest numbers of delegates 370 to be awarded to the winner. 

The Obama rally was intended to bring him more women, Independents and undecided voters.  He’s doing well with Independents, but Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y) has been beating him among women voters, a group that could make the difference in several states on Super Tuesday. 

Winfrey, who commands the ears of millions of women each day, told the crowd she had been criticized for not supporting the female candidate in the race. “The truth is I’m a free woman, and being free is that you get to think for yourself and you get to decide for yourself what to do,” she said. 

“So I say I am not a traitor. I’m just following my own truth, and that truth has led me to Barack Obama.”

While the ladies were holding it down on the West Coast, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) was speaking in Wilmington, Del., to 20,000 folks gathered at Rodney Square.    With the latest national poll showing Barack only 4 percentage points behind Clinton, Obama took his latest opportunity to revise his stump speech and reference McCain. 

“If John McCain is the nominee, then the Democratic Party has to ask itself, ‘|Do you want a candidate who has similar policies to John McCain on the war in Iraq, or someone who can offer a stark contrast?” Obama said. “When I’m the nominee, McCain won’t be able to say, ‘You were for this war in Iraq – because I wasn’t.”

Both Clinton and Obama took time off to watch the Super Bowl. Clinton told folks in Minneapolis, “We’ve got two big contests coming up, we’ve got the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday. I want the New York team to win both.”

The Giants did win, but in a upset. We’ll have to see who upsets whom on Tuesday. 
 

Why do you think so many high-powered Dems are jumping the Billary ship and endorsing Obama?