Obama gets another interesting endorsement.

Barack Obama got another endorsement today that might prove as important as John Kerry's.

Representative George Miller (D-CA) endorsed Obama today. If you are asking "Who?" you are not alone. I had no idea who Miller is before today. Turns out he is a pretty important guy.

As mentioned in this article, Miller is a "top adviser" to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I also heard him described today also as "Pelosi's wingman" and "Pelosi's right hand man." A December 19, 2006, article gives some details of Miller's connection to Pelosi:

Her top lieutenant in Congress is Miller, who used his clout to help her win a spot in the leadership and remains one of her most trusted advisers. She installed him as co-chair of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which shapes the party's agenda.

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[M]any lawmakers have felt Miller's bear-claw grip on their shoulders during key votes on the House floor, reminding them that Pelosi needs their support.

"George is immensely influential with Nancy, and vice versa," said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Walnut Creek. "Many people go to George because of the fact that Nancy has tremendous time constraints on her. They use George as a conduit to her."

I do not know if Miller's endorsement can be construed as an implicit endorsement by Pelosi. However, given all the foregoing, it might be seen that way by many people, particularly those in Congress. Thus, when Miller's endorsement is viewed in the context of the Kerry endorsement (and the endorsement of South Dakota Senator Johnson), it indicates to me that there are some interesting intra-party dynamics at work. At least one senior Democratic Senator and someone very close to the most powerful person in the House have turned away from Hillary at a moment when she is facing a big and real challenge from Obama. That makes me wonder if anyone else is going to do so in the next few days.

Just as significant as his relationship to Pelosi could be the fact that "Miller is also a renowned champion of women in politics[.]" One of the main reasons Hillary won in New Hampshire is that she got much more of the female vote than did Obama. Having someone who is "a champion of women in politics" in general and one who helped Nancy Pelosi become the first ever woman Speaker of the House endorse Obama instead of Hillary could maybe help Obama make up that gap in upcoming primaries.

As shown in the first article referenced above, Miller addressed the "experience" factor:

As for the experience factor that has been the bedrock of Clinton's campaign, Miller, who has served in the House of Representatives for more than 30 years, says that longevity in Washington does not always translate into leadership.

"Obama's experience in looking at the evidence led him to conclude that the Iraq war was not a war we should engage in, while Clinton looked at the same evidence and concluded that we should engage in it," Miller said.

He shoots...he scores! Oh, but Hillary will not respond because she will never discuss her record on Iraq. Miller also said the following:

"The number of years in (office) is neither here nor there. What matters is the leadership to reach the scores of independent voters and across the political lines to make change.

"I've watched both campaigns and I know both candidates and I believe Obama offers us an opportunity to truly change the way we do business in Washington."

Remember this. I will discuss it in a subsequent post.

I don't know that individual endorsements really make any difference, but Miller's endorsement could become part of a trend of members of Congress moving away from Hillary. At least that's what I'm hoping for.