Endorsements are mostly good things, of course, but occasionally they come with a downside. That fact is being demonstrated again in the run-up to Super Tuesday as Barack Obama pours more money and time into Massachusetts when, in truth, those valuable assets could probably be better spent elsewhere.

The endorsements of Ted Kennedy and last time's nominee, John Kerry (as well as Governor Deval Patrick), are worth a lot. But, in part because their prestige is now on the line, Obama will return to Massachusetts to campaign on Monday and is reportedly set to run an ad in the Boston market during the Super Bowl. In contrast, the word is that the candidate won't be returning to California in the days before that primary which has, of course, far more delegates at stake.

If the polls are to be believed, Obama is probably further behind in Massachusetts than he is in Missouri or California. And the truth is that he can probably afford to lose Massachusetts a lot more than he can afford to lose California. That is, before Kennedy endorsed him.

Now they all know that if Obama loses Massachusetts the lead in some papers on Wednesday will be something along the line of, "Despite the endorsement of Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, and Deval Patrick, Barack Obama still couldn't win . . . ." Obama's endorsements have made the primary more important to him than it should be.

Maybe they all can pull out the state for him. Even so, however, the question is whether it was worth the cost and the effort that could have been spent elsewhere.

To read Steven Stark's complete "Presidential Tote Board" blog, go to www.thephoenix.com/toteboard/