Thu, May 01, 2008 - 2:10 PM

Sen. Barack Obama picked up a couple of big endorsements in the last 24 hours.

First, former Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew switched his endorsement from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Obama, calling on Democrats to "unite behind Barack Obama now."

Andrew's move is quite a coup for Obama, but the former DNC chair doesn't wear a leather jacket, ride a motorcycle or, as far as we know, have the ability to start a juke box with a tap from his fist. Which makes him much less cool than the other recently announced Obama-backer, Henry Winkler, best know as "The Fonz" on "Happy Days."

In an interview with The LA City Beat, Winkler was a bit reluctant to reveal who he supported in the race for the White House, but then admitted to being "an Obama guy."

Said Winkler of Obama:

You can not be that articulate that often and not have it on the ball. People say we need “experience,” but intelligence and passion are what we need to fix this country again after what they’ve done to it.

-- Mark Young

It’s fair to say that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a thorn in the side of Barack Obama that just won’t go away.

But Obama's pastor may haunt other candidates in other races throughout the country.

Check out this report from The Atlantic on the House race in the First District in Mississippi between Democrat Travis Childers and Republican Greg Davis.

Childers criticized the ad linking himself and the now-infamous pastor as a distraction.

Other Democrats may find themselves with the same distractions as the Congressional campaign season heats up.

-- Amy Dominello

Democrats in Birmingham are getting a real headliner tomorrow night for the state party’s Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will give the keynote address at the dinner and it’s believed she is the first sitting Speaker to visit the state since Sam Rayburn nearly 50 years ago.

But by the time she leaves the state, Pelosi may be wishing she’d visited some other time. Pelosi will likely hear an earful from Alabamians urging her to support the U.S. Air Force decision to award a tanker contract to Northrop Grumman-EADS North America. The tankers would be assembled in Mobile.

The team beat out Boeing for the contract. The issue has become a flash point in Washington pitting legislators whose home districts in Washington and Kansas include Boeing operations that would lose out on jobs against those from Alabama, which would gain 1,500 jobs.

The contract has also ignited fireworks from some in Congress who have criticized the Air Force for awarding the contract to EADS, a foreign company, and sending jobs overseas.

Not coincidentally, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley, R, signed a resolution Thursday morning urging Pelosi to accept the decision and “refrain from turning this vital national security matter into a political free for all.”

For her part, Pelosi has said the contract raises some serious questions that Congress must look at it.

But like it or not, she’ll have to hear about it on Friday.

-- Amy Dominello