The Edwards endorsement
Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2008 9:04 AM by Domenico Montanaro
“Democrat John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama on Wednesday, as his former presidential rival tries to appeal to working-class voters who have been the bedrock of Hillary Rodham Clinton's support,” USA Today writes.
The Washington Post says that Edwards’ “decision to climb off the fence with just five contests remaining is likely to yield limited benefits, but it sends a strong signal that Edwards, at least, thinks the nomination battle is over.”
The Boston Globe: “The declarations from Edwards and the National Abortion Rights Action League hit Clinton just as she sought momentum from her 41-percentage-point victory in Tuesday's West Virginia primary. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, has begun to rally around Obama as the presumptive presidential nominee. The nod from Edwards, which both candidates had sought for months, was especially valuable to Obama, acting as a balm for his bruising loss in West Virginia and giving him a symbolic lift as he courts white, working-class voters - whom he has struggled to attract.”
The New York Daily News calls Edwards’ endorsement “a dramatic move that brings Obama ever closer to donning the party's crown.…” Edwards “remains a popular figure among rural, white, low-income and union households -- precisely the groups that have rallied toward Clinton in recent contests. His backing, experts said, may well help Obama convince voters and superdelegates that he, too, can win over those groups, refuting one of Clinton's few remaining arguments -- electability.”
The New York Post: “Edwards: I’m an O Man.”
But, per the New York Times: “Missing from the event was Elizabeth Edwards, Mr. Edwards’s wife, who has been a passionate proponent of universal health care. The Edwardses were said to be split on the endorsement, with Mrs. Edwards said to favor Mrs. Clinton because of her preference for parts of the Clinton health care plan. Mr. Obama, who accepted Mr. Edwards’s endorsement with praise for the speech and the man, also praised Mrs. Edwards and her commitment to health care. Asked if she would endorse him, he said, ‘I would not speak for Elizabeth.’”
Aboard his plane en route to Chicago last night, Obama said he hoped undecided voters who had supported John Edwards would give his campaign a look after he received his former rival’s endorsement, NBC/NJ’s Athena Jones reports. "John is obviously a senior voice in the party. He's somebody who has a lot of credibility and a lot of strong supporters and loyal supporters," he said.
"Hopefully his endorsement will help some of those supporters who haven't already joined my campaign to take a look at my campaign and I think the tone that he struck today was exactly right, which is, you know, we've got a big race coming up in November," Obama added. "Whoever the Democratic nominee is is gonna have to reach out across the spectrum, not just to Democrats but also independents and Republicans who are tired of the direction George Bush has taken this country.”
Per Jones, the campaign said that Obama and Edwards have been talking regularly for the past several months, especially about policy proposals around ending poverty in America. They spoke on Tuesday night while Obama was in Michigan, and Edwards decided to endorse on Wednesday in Grand Rapids.
A former senior Edwards adviser told NBC’s Kevin Corke that Edwards “really, truly admires Hillary Clinton, and it was a tough call. But he felt endorsing Obama was the right thing to do.”
