Forget Nancy Pelosi. Or Al Gore. Or even Hillary Clinton. Last night, newly-minted Democratic nominee Barack Obama snagged the only endorsement that matters (at least to Dylanophiles like Stumper): The Bob.

Asked in an interview with London Times for his views on American politics, the artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman launched into an appropriately gnomic analysis of our current state of affairs. "Well, you know right now America is in a state of upheaval," he said. "Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor." And then, out of nowhere, came this:

But we've got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up...Barack Obama. He's redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to... You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future.

For a guy's who's been pretty much apolitical since 1964, Dylan was surprisingly on message. "Change"? "Hope"? "Redefining politics"? "Forward into the future?" It's almost as if he's been paying attention.

This, of course, isn't the first sign of affection between Obama and a Dylan. Back in February, Bob's son Jesse produced and directed the famous "Yes, We Can" video, and Obama has long listed the Bard of Bleecker Street as one of his "favorite musicians" on Facebook. So don't be surprised if a Dylan line or two crops up in Obama's stump speech sometime soon. Perhaps "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking"? Or "I'm gonna change the world around"? Or "your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards?" And, of course, there's always "The Times They Are-A Changin'."

Although Obama might want to skip "It's Alright, Ma, I'm Only Bleeding." Sure, "even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked." But it's probably best to keep that to yourself until after the inauguration.