Superdelegate Bingaman endorses Obama

U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M. and a superdelegate, today endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary.

It’s a big win for Obama in a race that’s close enough that every superdelegate’s support matters. Bingaman said he intends to vote for Obama at the Democratic National Convention in June.

“Our nation faces a daunting number of critical challenges: reasserting America’s leadership in the world, meeting our needs for energy independence, addressing global warming, making health care accessible and affordable, positioning our economy to effectively compete globally and extricating ourselves from the war in Iraq, to name a few,” Bingaman said in a release from the Obama campaign. “To make progress, we must rise above the partisanship and the issues that divide us to find common ground. We must move the country in a dramatically new direction. I strongly believe Barack Obama is best positioned to lead the nation in that new direction.”

Obama, in the release, said he is grateful for Bingaman’s support.

“Senator Bingaman has been speaking out in the United States Senate on some of the most pressing issues of our time – saving our environment, fighting global warming and making America energy independent,” Obama said. “Senator Bingaman has been an important advocate in the energy debate and has served the people of New Mexico for decades, giving voice to the issues that matter to families across the state. We are proud to have his support as we fight to bring about real change for families in New Mexico and across the country.”

The news will come as a surprise to some because Bingaman, chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, rarely gets involved in primary battles.

Of New Mexico’s 12 superdelegates, six have gone to Clinton, three have gone to Obama and three remain uncommitted to either candidate. The uncommiteds are U.S. Rep. Tom Udall, state party Chair Brian Colón and Laurie Weahkee, the lead organizer for the Native American Voters Alliance, a project of the Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality Council. Weahkee was selected to be the state’s final superdelegate this weekend at meeting of the Democratic Party’s state central committee.

The uncommitted superdelegates are going to be heavily courted by both campaigns in the coming weeks. Pressure is increasing for superdelegates to make and announce their decisions by June so the party can unite behind a candidate and begin focusing on defeating John McCain in November.

Update, 4:25 p.m.

Adam Feldman, executive director of New Mexico’s Republican Party, had this to say:

“Today, Senator Bingaman endorsed the candidate who New Mexico Democrats did not choose in their presidential caucus. He chose to support the candidate who recently belittled and demeaned the values and beliefs held by rural New Mexicans. And, he decided to back a candidate who has promised a different kind of politics in lofty speeches but who has failed to keep those promises to the American people by smearing and distorting so blatantly the record of Senator McCain,” Feldman said. “To be frank, Senator Bingaman’s endorsement of Barack Obama is surprising, and as a product of small-town New Mexico himself, he should have known better than to back someone who is so clearly out-of-touch with the values New Mexicans are proud to hold.”