Former Clinton labor secretary Reich backs Obama

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Robert Reich, a former labor secretary during President Bill Clinton's administration, endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday.

"My conscience won't let me be silent any longer," Reich wrote on his blog in announcing the endorsement for Obama, who is in a hard-fought Democratic presidential battle with former first lady Hillary Clinton.

Reich said he had delayed a formal endorsement because of "the pull of old friendships" but he believed Obama offered the best chance of creating a new kind of politics and transcending old divisions.

Obama recently won another high-profile endorsement by a former Clinton cabinet official, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who was energy secretary and U.N. ambassador under Clinton.

Obama, an Illinois senator, also picked up the endorsements on Friday of former senators Sam Nunn, the former chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and David Boren, former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

(Writing by John Whitesides; Editing by Eric Walsh)