The Real Significance of Richard Cordray's Endorsement of Obama

Last night the Obama for America campaign distributed an email announcing the endorsement of Ohio Treasurer Rich Cordray (D-Grove City). He is the first statewide officeholder to break from Gov. Strickland, so his endorsement is highly significant for that reason. However, I see it as having even more significance on another front.

The crux of Clinton's criticism of Obama is that he lacks substance, whether that is expressed by calling his campaign a "fairy tale" or "fluff" or even a "cult." Inherent in this line of attack is the notion that voters are being bamboozled.

The real significance of Cordray's endorsement is that he is a thinking person's politician. This endorsement comes with a pedigree of intellectual prowess.

Cordray was Order of the Coif and Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review at The University of Chicago Law School, and has a masters degree with honors in philosophy, politics & economics from Oxford University. He argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, was Ohio's first Solicitor General, and taught for 15 years at Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University. His terms as Franklin County Treasurer and now as Ohio Treasurer have been marked by brilliant innovations and new programs. He was even a champion on Jeopardy.

In short, Cordray is not a person to be bedazzled by rhetoric or to make an endorsement based on mere emotion. If he supports Obama, it is a based on a rational appraisal of Obama's merits, and Cordray is not one to be fooled.