Polls Show Obama Making Inroads With Clinton Supporters/ United Mine Workers Endorse Obama

From the Frontrunner Christian Science Monitor (5/21, Sabar, 56K) reports the "recent focus on lopsided individual races in places like West Virginia (Clinton) and North Carolina (Obama) has obscured what polls now show is a much more fluid national electorate." Clinton's support "among key parts of her base ?? women, whites, Easterners, Hispanics, adults with no college education ? dropped below 50 percent in mid-May, according to a Gallup study released this week. Senator Obama, meanwhile, has so expanded his support that he logged a record 16-point lead over Clinton in polling last weekend among Democratic and left-leaning voters, according to Gallup." If that lead "holds, it would suggest that a growing number of Clinton supporters no longer see her as a viable candidate and are coalescing around Obama as the likely Democratic nominee. The findings indicate that Democrats may have an easier time uniting behind Obama than some exit polls suggest."

UMWA Endorses Obama
The AP (5/22) reports that Sen. Barack Obama's "recent defeats in primaries in coal-producing states" did not prevent the United Mine Workers of America from endorsing him Wednesday, suggesting that the move "continues organized labor's swing over to" Obama. Union president Cecil E. Roberts said that Obama "shares the values of the UMWA" and "understands and will fight for the needs our members have." The AP notes that the union had originally endorsed John Edwards before he dropped out of the race, and that the move follows the track of the United Steelworkers.