PHOENIX — It was the endorsement everyone talked about.
Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano backed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination. As a result, supporters of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, said they felt that Napolitano — a female politician and former U.S. attorney under President Bill Clinton — turned her back on them.
As Napolitano traveled the Southwest campaigning with Obama, the national media talked of how, despite Clinton's lead in Arizona polls, Napolitano's endorsement might help swing things.
But after Clinton beat Obama handily in Tuesday's primary election here, Napolitano downplayed the overall importance of her nod — one that some think could haunt her.
Napolitano also indicated she's had a change of heart, and now likes the idea of independents being able to vote in Arizona's presidential primaries, which are currently registered-Democratic-voter-only and registered-Republican-voter-only contests.
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She speculated that had they been able to vote this time, Obama may have won. "Endorsements are just endorsements," she said during her Wednesday press briefing. "Voters vote."
The governor's support clearly didn't help Obama with women. Clinton led Obama by 13 percentage points in that important block, exit polls indicated.
Still, Napolitano did say she thinks she may have helped close the overall gap. Obama, who once trailed by 20 percentage points in polls, lost by just 8 percentage points on Tuesday.
"As I've seen the parties change, and I've seen the rise of independent voters, it seems to me that what you want is people paying attention and voting, and if you want that, then you should open up the primaries," she said.
It remains to seen what Obama's loss says about Napolitano's political power — and how it impacts the ambitions of a relatively young second-term governor. Napolitano, 50, hasn't said what she'd like to do once she's termed out in 2010, assuming she serves out her term. But there has been speculation she might seek John McCain's seat in the U.S. Senate, particularly if he's elected president in November.
Napolitano acknowledged that some Clinton backers aren't happy with her. "But as I've said before, once these primaries are over, we have a nominee, we're all going to have to come together and we will campaign in the fall," she said.
Democratic donor and Clinton supporter Jim Pederson concurred. Others, though, are less forgiving.
"The governor, who could have stayed out of it, seems to have endorsed Barack Obama for some sort of personal gain, and I find that troubling," said Marilyn Heins, a Tucson Democrat who is on Clinton's local steering committee.
