"But he supported him up until last week.
Strangely enough, the senior board supported him up to the last moment, even as the human wreckage was plain to see.
If a candidate faced a rival who opted out, the state would match the spending of the privately financed candidate and independent groups supporting him, up to triple the initial amount.
In a poll conducted last week by Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, 49percentt of the registered voters surveyed said they would vote for Mr. Gore in the general election or were leaning toward supporting him, up from 40percentt last December.
The endorsement, which will be announced in Oregon on Tuesday, provides another sign that Mr. Gore is moving swiftly to consolidate his support in the Democratic Party's liberal wing, much of which had balked at supporting him up until just a few weeks ago.
"On every possible point we met his artistic needs and requirements and were prepared to support him completely, up and through the opening night," Mr. Gelb said.
The white man can say he has been doing this for decades, that he has authored several books on the subject, and that he has black friends who will support him and back him up on this.
When they failed to support him, he picked up a loss.
Officials with Mr. Romney's campaign disagree, and they said that whatever gains Mr. Obama had would be unsustainable through Election Day, contending that he is succeeding only in getting those most likely to support him to show up early, an assessment that Mr. Obama's aides dispute.
