Portland, Oregon: Sen. Barack Obama won what can be called “Hispanic Trump Card” when he got the coveted endorsement from New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Friday.  

The endorsement from Richardson, the Hispanic governor is viewed as another victory for Obama. It’s certainly going to help him winning over Latino voters who have greatly tilted towards the New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Richardson can really play as “Hispanic Trump Card” for Obama.

It’s important to note that Richardson is exofficio super delegate of Democratic Party. His endorsement literally adds one more super delegate to Obama’s delegate count. Thus, Obama now has 214 super delegates and 1414 pledged delegates which take his total to 1628 delegates, while Clinton has aggregate of 1496 delegates.  

Serving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Energy Secretary during the Clinton administration, Richardson left the former first lady in lurch, saying that it was time for a new generation to lead. So, according to the New Mexican Governor, Obama is representative of new generation and new hope of United States.

Standing next to Obama in Oregon, Richardson said, "Your candidacy is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our nation and you are a once-in-a-lifetime leader."

Richardson, who ran for the Democratic nomination but left the race in January because he lacked funds, praised Obama’s speech on race earlier this week. He said the speech touched him as a Hispanic. "This is a man who understands us and who will respect us," Richardson said in Spanish.

Hispanic voters, that largely backed Clinton in the past contests, may now switch over to Obama in wake of the New Mexico Governor’s endorsement for Obama. So, it’s bad news for Clinton. Reacting to the news, one of Clinton’s advisers dismissed the endorsement as “not significant at this stage in the race”.