If you're keeping score at home, this one's a big one for Edwards:
John Edwards is set to collect a key Iowa endorsement tomorrow from one of the state's Democratic members of Congress, a coveted prize that each of Mr. Edwards' rivals have been aggressively courting.Representative Bruce Braley, who represents Iowa's First Congressional District in the eastern portion of the state, is scheduled to announce that he is supporting the presidential candidacy of Mr. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina. The development was confirmed to The Caucus by two Democratic officials familiar with the endorsement.
Mr. Braley was elected to Congress last year as Democrats swept control of the House of Representatives from Republicans. In recent weeks, he has been sought after by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama and Mr. Edwards, all three of whom headlined separate versions of "Bruce, Blues and BBQ," a fund-raising dinner for Mr. Braley.
He is the first of Iowa's three Democratic members of Congress to announce his endorsement. The value of any endorsement is always an open question, but as Mr. Edwards seeks to compete for attention and support with Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama, this rollout signals the beginning of an intense final month of the Iowa caucus campaign.
The endorsement will formally be announced tomorrow in Waterloo.
With Edwards consistently polling in third in Iowa after having led consistently in the state for the first half of the year, this comes as an important piece of news for the former North Carolina Senator. Although he seems to have arrested his fall in the polls in the state, he could certainly use a jolt, which could potentially be provided by this endorsement.
As a lot of folks have noted before, endorsements don't necessarily make a terribly large impression on voters decisions directly. However, the Braley endorsement does do at least a couple of important things for Edwards. First off, this could be the big piece of news in the statewide media Tuesday, and perhaps more importantly it could prompt the national media to remember Edwards, who they have been perhaps too quick to forget given their focus on the scuffles between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. What's more, a Braley endorsement could bring some of the organizational support and expertise that helped put Braley in Congress last fall. All in all, tomorrow should be a good day for the Edwards campaign.
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