HILL BRIEFS

Former DNC Chairman Switches From Clinton To Obama

Thu. May 1, 2008


Politics. A leader of the Democratic Party under former President Bill Clinton switched his allegiance to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama today and urged fellow Democrats to end the bruising nomination fight. "This has got to come to an end," former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew told reporters in Indianapolis just days before Tuesday's crucial primary. Then-President Clinton appointed Andrew chairman of the DNC in 1999, and he led the party through the disputed 2000 presidential race before stepping down in 2001. Andrew endorsed New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton last year on the day she declared her candidacy. Andrew's decision puts Obama closer to closing Clinton's once-big lead in superdelegates: According to an Associated Press count, Obama now trails Clinton by just 15 superdelegates, 263-248.