Dem governors paving the way for Obama

From NBC's Bill Hatfield DENVER -- If Obama wins this November, he may want to send thank-you cards to the nation's Democratic governors for laying the groundwork for his victory. That, at least, was today's message from the top three members of the Democratic Governors Association -- West Virginia's Joe Manchin , Montana's Brian Schweitzer , and Maryland's Martin O'Malley . The governors met with reporters today to offer bullish assessments of Democratic governors' races in 2008, as well as in 2010. But they spent much of the news conference arguing that they helped paved the way for Obama, linking their styles of bipartisan, problem-solving governance to Illinois Democrat's prospects in November. Manchin, the DGA chair, tied the Democratic governors' expanded ranks since 2000 to Obama's strong performance in reliably Republican states. "Who would have thought in 2004 or 2000 that a Democrat would be competitive in Montana ... or Colorado?" Manchin observed. Schweitzer agreed, declaring ... (link)