Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama won the support of Lee Hamilton, former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton and the top Democrat on the Sept. 11 commission.

The endorsement of Hamilton, a top rank authority on foreign relations and national security boosts Obama’s chances of success on May 6, when the state of Indiana holds primary elections.

Hamilton said he decided to support Obama because, as president, the 46-year-old Illinois senator would be the one offering Americans the biggest chance to create a new sense of national unity. During an interview, Hamilton described Obama as a politician who "champions the politics of consensus and not of partisan division".

"I think he is driven by the search for the common good," he added.

Lee Hamilton, who played a key role in the investigations of the September 11 attacks when he was vice chairman of the panel, said he would publicly announce that he will endorse Obama on Wednesday.

Hamilton, former chairman of the Iraq Study Group, has also backed Obama on the foreign relations describing his foreign policy as “pragmatic, visionary and tough".

"He will work with our friends and allies. He will strengthen our ability to use all tools of American power and relentlessly promote the American values of freedom and justice for all people," said Hamilton.

Hamilton, now president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, is the latest important figure to offer his support to Obama in his race with New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the party nomination. The other key figures who recently said they would endorse Obama are New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.
 
The majority of Indiana's Democratic Party, especially Sen. Evan Bayh, campaigned for Clinton before the May 6 primary in the state where neither candidate is regarded as favorite to win.