Impact from Endorsements?

I believe that endorsement for the candidate, does have an affect on voting behavior, especially in the primaries and for independent voters. The individuals with party identification has no influence by the endorsement unless it is in the primaries. For example, John Edwards, Ted Kennnedy, and Oprah Winfrey who endorsed Sen. Obama had a significat impact on voting behavior in the primaries. Hillary Clintion was very popular even before she'd enter the democratic presidential race, and i have never heard of Sen. Obama until he enter the race. During the Meet the Press on NBC, Colin Powell who endorse Obama does have an affect on independent voters because the fact that he is a conservative Republican. Also Joe Liberman endorsement might have an impact on voting behavior for the Republicans. Most of all i believe that the commentators have a significant influence on voting behaviors because thousands to millions of viewer who wants to understand politics can easily conceptualize what the commentators advocates. My analogy for endorsement influence are like the people who follow their parents, priests, and teachers voting for that candidate.