Good news or bad?

I'll report and let you decide.

Sen. John Kerry - the Dems' 2004 candidate for president - endorsed Barack Obama's bid today.

It was Kerry who helped launch Obama onto the national stage by choosing him to give the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic convention. That speech was widely praised and put Obama on the national political map.

Kerry still has a broad base of supporters organized through his Web site, which could provide Obama with additional infrastructure in the states that will be voting down the road.

But Kerry, just by being Kerry, seems to play into the hands of the right-wing slime machine as we saw in 2004 and beyond.

If I were the Obama folks, I'd thank Kerry for his endorsement and keep him as far away as possible from a microphone or an Obama event.

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Today marked the end of the line for the campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, perhaps the most qualified candidate in either party.

Richardson has been a legislator, a governor, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N and Energy Secretary during the Bill Clinton era. He was also chosen as a negotiator in hostage-taking incidents in a few places around the globe.

For whatever reason - my guess is name recognition in a star-studded field - Richardson never got noticed. I'm sure he's being noticed by those who will be helping one of the other candidates pick a VP nominee.