Clinton, Cruz pick up endorsements now that the race is practically over

The flurry of springtime endorsements has come and gone, and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are leading the delegate counts for their respective parties by wide margins, but at least three organizations nonetheless chose to endorse their preferred presidential candidates late in the game. On Tuesday night, Clinton scored eleventh-hour endorsements from Rolling Stone and the American Nurse's Association, and the Club for Growth backed Ted Cruz in its first-ever endorsement.

Rolling Stone editor and publisher Jann S. Wenner, perhaps unaware of Clinton's healthy delegate lead, called her the "clear and urgent choice" for president. "America chooses its presidents from the middle, not from the ideological wings," he wrote in an editorial that will appear in the March 25 issue of the magazine. "I have been the revolution before. It ain't happening." He goes on to praise Clinton for her experience and commitment to causes like human rights and social justice. Take that, Bernie Sanders.

PHOTOS: Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail

Clinton also received an endorsement from the American Nurse's Association, which is the largest member-based organization for registered nurses in the country. She used the endorsement to tout her healthcare plan: "I'll always stand with America's nurses in the fight to finally achieve universal, affordable health care and fight against any efforts to roll back the protections and coverage of the Affordable Care Act," she said in a statement.

On the Republican side, Ted Cruz scored an endorsement from the conservative advocacy group Club for Growth, although it appears the group only chose to back Cruz because it's afraid of Trump. "The Club's PAC has never endorsed in a presidential race, but this year is different because there is a vast gulf between the two leading Republican candidates on matters of economic liberty," the club's president said in a statement.

Coincidentally, the club was one of the first groups to advertise against Trump. As the Wall Street Journalpoints out, its endorsement of Cruz is an attempt to consolidate conservative support. Your turn, Marco Rubio.

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