US presidential hopeful Barack Obama won a coveted endorsement from New Mexico Govenor Bill Richardson yesterday while the State Department apologized that employees snooped into the Illinois Democrat's passport files and those of his two main White House rivals.
The backing from the Hispanic governor is a victory for Mr Obama and could improve his chances of winning over Latino voters who have leaned toward New York Senator Hillary Clinton. A Clinton adviser dismissed the endorsement as not significant at this stage in the race.
Mr Obama and Mr Clinton are in a heated battle to represent the Democrats against the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, in the November 4 thpresidential election to succeed US President George W. Bush.
In an embarrassment to the Bush administration, the State Department yesterday revealed that the passport records of all three major candidates had been improperly viewed by three contract employees and by a regular department staffer.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Mr Obama, Mrs Clinton and Mr McCain to apologize and the State Department said it was conducting an investigation and would look at how to tighten its systems to prevent such privacy violations.
"It is deeply disturbing, what's happened," Mr Obama told a news conference. "When you have not just one but a series of attempts to tap into people's personal records, that's a problem not just for me but for our health in this country and so I expect a full and thorough investigation."
Mrs Clinton, who was spending the Easter holiday at home off the campaign trail, said in a statement she would follow the probe closely. The incident revived memories of the political firestorm that erupted in 1992 after State Department officials searched former President Bill Clinton's passport and citizenship files when he was a Democratic presidential candidate.
Bill Richardson, who served as US ambassador to the United Nations and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, chose to abandon the former president and his wife, saying it was time for a new generation to lead.
"Your candidacy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader," Mr Richardson said as he stood next to Mr Obama in Oregon. Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama had cultivated Mr Richardson's backing in part because the Hispanic politician could garner support among the Hispanic community, the fastest-growing segment of the electorate and a potentially vital voting bloc.
Mr Richardson praised a speech Mr Obama gave on race earlier this week and said it touched him as a Hispanic. "This is a man who understands us and who will respect us," he said in Spanish. Hispanics largely backed Mr Clinton in nominating contests on "Super Tuesday," with polls showing her winning two-thirds of the Latino vote in several states, and it was unclear whether they might shift to Mr Obama because of Mr Richardson's endorsement.
Mrs Clinton's chief strategist, Mark Penn, on a conference call with reporters, dismissed Mr Richardson's potential impact this far into the race. "I think that, you know, perhaps the time when he could have been most effective has long since passed," he said. "We both have our endorsers, but I don't think that it is a significant endorsement in this environment."