Briefs | Obama wins coveted endorsement

PORTLAND, Ore. — Bill Richardson, the nation’s only Hispanic governor, backed Barack Obama for president Friday, moved to deliver his much-coveted endorsement by the senator’s speech about race.

The New Mexico governor joined Obama at a spirited rally Friday and said the Illinois senator demonstrated his leadership abilities this week with his speech on race. “You are a once-in-a-lifetime leader,” the governor said from the stage. “Above all, you will be a president who brings this nation together.”

Richardson dropped his own bid for the nomination in January. His support for Obama comes during a tough period for the senator. Although he still leads Hillary Rodham Clinton in delegates, Obama has seen his lead in national polls wither in the fallout from divisive remarks by his former pastor.

Richardson was courted by both candidates and his support for Obama provides him a potential counterweight to Clinton’s strength among Hispanic voters.

• McCain addresses crackdown on Tibet

PARIS — Sen. John McCain said Friday that China is harming its world image with its crackdown in Tibet and expressed hope Beijing would seek a peaceful solution to the crisis.

McCain did not discuss the issue during a 45-minute meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. But later in the courtyard of the French presidential Elysee Palace, he told reporters the subject was “one of the first things I would talk about if I were president of the United States today.”

“The people there are being subjected to mistreatment that is not acceptable with the conduct of a world power, which China is,” McCain said in response to a question by a Chinese television journalist.

The White House has urged Beijing to respect Tibetan culture and multi-ethnicity in its society.

• Court dismisses Florida lawsuit

ATLANTA — A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee over the party’s decision to strip Florida of its delegates to its national convention.

But the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling released Friday, said the lawsuit “raises a number of interesting and potentially significant questions,” and gave the plaintiff an opening to amend and refile the lawsuit.

The plaintiff, Victor DiMaio, a Democratic Party activist from Tampa, Fla., said he would refile.

DiMaio filed the lawsuit in 2007 accusing the party of disenfranchising Florida’s Democratic voters by barring them from having their say in choosing their party’s nominee. The party stripped Florida and Michigan of their national convention delegates because they moved their primaries to January dates in violation of party rules.

The Democratic National Committee argued the party has the right to set its own rules and not seat delegates who refuse to follow them.

• Obama campaign outspends Clinton’s

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton upped the tempo of her fundraising and her spending last month, only to be eclipsed by rival Barack Obama. At month’s end, with debts of nearly $9 million, her money was nearly spent and he was sitting atop $30 million in available cash.

Obama’s campaign spent at a rate of nearly $1.5 million a day in February — a crucial month that began with the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday and ended with both candidates marching to a showdown March 4 in Texas and Ohio. Clinton, riding her best fundraising period yet, spent about $1 million a day on average.

But reports filed with the Federal Election commission late Thursday showed that Obama set a single month fundraising record, with more than $55 million in contributions.

Both Democrats ended up with more than $30 million in the bank, but Clinton can’t use two thirds of her cash on hand because it’s only for the general election. That and her debt left her with less than $3 million in the black. The debt doesn’t include the $5 million she lent her campaign in January.

STATISTIC OF THE DAY

Since January, more than 68,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania changed their affiliation to one of the major parties, with those switching to Democratic registration outpacing those turning Republican more than 3 to 1.

Ann Sanner, The Associated Press