It received a surprise endorsement from President Bush in his State of the Union speech, giving it new urgency.

Martin won by a comfortable margin on election day thanks to the surprise endorsement of Green, and President Reagan's coattails.

Alexander, in particular, hopes for a surprise endorsement to get him some attention.

The mayor also seemed to allude to the police union's surprise endorsement of the Republican candidate in 1988.

Buckhorn also picked up the surprise endorsement of the current mayor of the time, Pam Iorio, who had not been expected to endorse anyone.

Terry Kilrea's surprise endorsement of Chiarelli had little apparent effect; Chiarelli continued to slide in the polls and finished a distant third behind Munter and the victorious O'Brien.

Aides to Mr. Hevesi, who is white, hope that Mr. Louima's surprise endorsement will help the comptroller's candidacy among black voters.

As Senator Frank Lautenberg said when he made his surprise endorsement of Jon Corzine, Jim Florio's opponent, "I think the times have changed."

After that, no image consultant was ever again going to let anything happen at a convention more interesting than a nice speech by Mario Cuomo or a surprise endorsement from Sammy Davis Jr.

Time Heals All Wounds' There were no ready explanations for the surprise endorsements by the black clergymen.