Democrat John
Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday in
Grand Rapids, Mich., a move designed to help solidify
support for the party's likely presidential nominee
even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her
long-shot candidacy.
The surprise
endorsement came a day after Clinton defeated Obama by more
than 2 to 1 in the West Virginia primary, and it helped the
Obama campaign steer much of the evening news coverage
away from a painful subject. The West Virginia outcome
highlighted Obama's challenge in winning over
''Hillary Democrats'' -- white, working-class voters who
also supported Edwards in significant numbers before he
exited the race in late January.
Edwards made the
carefully timed announcement at an Obama rally here, as
the Illinois senator campaigned in a critical general
election battleground state.
Edwards, who
received a thunderous ovation when Obama introduced him to
the crowd of several thousand, said, ''brothers and sisters,
we must come together as Democrats'' to defeat McCain.
''We are here tonight because the Democratic voters
have made their choice, and so have I.''
He said Obama
''stands with me'' in a fight to cut poverty in half within
10 years, a claim Obama confirmed moments later.
Edwards also
praised Clinton, saying ''we are a stronger party'' because
of her involvement, and ''we're going to have a stronger
nominee in the fall because of her work.''
He said Clinton
is a ''woman who is made of steel. She is a leader in
this country not because of her husband but because of what
she has done.''
Speaking after
Edwards in the packed Van Andel Arena, Obama gave one of
his most animated addresses in days, much of it devoted to
his guest's favorite topic, fighting poverty. In
America, he said, ''you should never be homeless, you
should never be hungry.''
As president, he
vowed to ''lift up every American out of poverty.''
Clinton campaign
chairman Terry McAuliffe said in a statement, ''We
respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia
showed last night, this thing is far from over.''
Edwards, a former
North Carolina senator and the 2004 vice presidential
nominee, finished second to Obama in the Iowa caucus in
early January before coming in third in the following
three contests. He dropped out in New Orleans, the
location a reminder of his attention to poverty.
Both Obama and
Clinton immediately asked Edwards for his endorsement, but
he stayed mum for more than four months. His endorsement
would have carried far more clout if he had made it in
February, when the Obama-Clinton outcome was very much
in doubt.
Obama, speaking
to reporters on his plane late Wednesday as he flew from
Michigan to Chicago, said Edwards can help draw
working-class voters and others to his campaign.
''I have no doubt
that John Edwards can be extremely helpful to us
campaigning in every demographic. But his passion and
credibility when it comes to issues of poverty and the
plight of working people in this country, I think, is
a message that is powerful and one that fits with the
kind of vision I have for America.''
A person close to
Edwards, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he
wanted to get involved now to begin unifying the party. The
two men spoke by phone Tuesday night, and Edwards
agreed to fly to Grand Rapids the next day.
Edwards didn't
even tell many of his former top advisers because he
wanted to inform Clinton personally, said the person close
to him. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who has said she
thinks Clinton has the superior health care plan, did
not travel with him to Michigan and is not part of the
endorsement.
David ''Mudcat''
Saunders, a chief adviser for Edwards on rural affairs
during the presidential campaign, said the endorsement
should take some sting out of Obama's resounding loss
in West Virginia.
''For Barack
Obama, I think he ought to kiss Johnny Edwards on the lips
to kill this 41-point loss,'' Saunders said.
Edwards waged a
scrappy underdog campaign for the Democratic nomination,
always outshone by the historic nature of Obama possibly
being the first black nominee and Clinton the first
woman. He continued to campaign after the family
disclosed that his wife's breast cancer had returned.
Obama has 1,887
delegates, leaving him 139 short of the 2,026 delegates
needed to clinch the nomination. Clinton has 1,718
delegates, according to the latest tally by The
Associated Press.
Edwards has 19
pledged delegates won in three states: Iowa, New Hampshire
and South Carolina. Most of them have already been selected,
meaning they are technically free to support whomever
they choose at the party's national convention,
regardless of Edwards' endorsement. (Chuck Babington,
AP)
