Former Dem Presidential Candidates Endorse Obama

From Jennifer Skalka for The Hotline:

Onetime New Hampshire primary winner Gary Hart and former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley, who vied for his party's 2000 nomination, endorsed Barack Obama today.

“Barack Obama is building a broad new coalition that brings together Democrats, Independents, and Republicans by once again making idealism a central focus of our politics,” said Bradley said in a statement released by Obama's campaign. “Because of his enormous appeal to Americans of all ages and backgrounds, Obama is the candidate best positioned to win in November. Barack knows above all that unless people can once again believe in our democracy, we won’t be able to do the things that need to be done on health care and education or to break our dependence on foreign oil. His movement for change could create a new era of American politics – truly a new American story.”

Hart, who won the New Hampshire primary in 1984, today in The Huffington Post:

"Senator Obama is a man of principle. He is committed to restoring a sense of national community to America. He believes in restoring our security alliances through active diplomacy and engaging those who disagree with us in constructive dialogue. He restates the requirement that we all give something back to America, to become engaged in the public arena, in the national interest. And, most important, he is the walking embodiment of equality and justice.

"Already the Obama candidacy has sent a powerful message around a watching world: The torch has been passed to a new generation of American leaders, and we don't care what color it is."