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John Edwards Endorses Obama

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Monique Faulkner
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« on: May 15, 2008, 11:00:12 am »

Clinton win leads to Obama boost
Story Highlights
NEW: United Steelworkers Union endorse Sen. Obama on Thursday

Aides say Edwards picked Obama after Clinton won in West Virginia

Edwards on Monday said he wasn't ready to make an endorsement

Clinton has vowed to keep campaigning through last contest on June 3


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(CNN) -- Hillary Clinton's decisive win in West Virginia caused John Edwards to throw his support to Barack Obama, the Illinois senator's aides said.



John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama following Clinton's big win in West Virginia.

 Edwards was concerned that the Clinton storyline -- that Obama can't win white, working-class voters -- was becoming too damaging to Obama and the party, aides said.

Obama had been courting Edwards for four months. Since Edwards abandoned his presidential bid in January, he and Obama have talked regularly, Obama said.

As late as Monday, Edwards told CNN's Larry King that he wasn't prepared to make an endorsement.

"What I don't want to do is contribute to the divide," he said. "At least for this moment, I think the reasonable thing for me to do is let voters make their decision."

But Clinton's crushing win in West Virginia on Tuesday highlighted Obama's weakness with working-class white voters, a segment of the electorate that may prove pivotal in November.  Watch how the endorsement could affect Obama »

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Among white voters without a college degree, Clinton defeated Obama by 50 percentage points. Among white voters making less than $30,000 a year, Clinton's margin of victory was more than 60 percentage points.

Edwards had campaigned on the message that he was standing up for the little guy, the people who are not traditionally given a voice in Washington, and that he would do more to fight special interests.

"The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," Edwards told a boisterous crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Wednesday.  Watch why Edwards picked Obama »

"There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama." Edwards also praised Clinton's candidacy.

Despite trailing in pledged delegates, superdelegates and the popular vote, Clinton has repeatedly said her campaign will keep going. Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that, "We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

Wednesday's endorsement could help Obama reach the blue-collar voters who have been reluctant to embrace his candidacy. On his flight from Grand Rapids to Chicago, Obama told reporters he has no doubt Edwards will help him in every demographic.

And the signs are beginning to show with Thursday's endorsement by the powerful United Steelworkers Union.

"When the presidential primary contests began last year, our Union felt strongly that because of Senator John Edwards's deep commitment to working people and because of our shared beliefs, he deserved our strong endorsement," the union said in a press release. "Today, by virtue of a unanimous vote of our International Executive Board, we find ourselves once again in agreement with Senator Edwards, this time with his decision last evening to endorse Senator Barack Obama."

The union's leaders took aim with Sen. John McCain's "lock-step commitment to four more years of the broken Bush economy and the broken Bush foreign policies."

"We commit ourselves to working tirelessly for his election and for a new age of cooperation among Democrats, Independents and thoughtful Republicans alike in which working Americans are restored to a place of dignity in society and in the American economy," the press release said.

After dropping out of the race, Edwards asked Clinton and Obama to make poverty a central issue in the general election and a future Democratic administration, something both agreed to do.

Edwards released his 19 delegates, and they are free to vote for the candidate of their choice.

John Moylan, a former senior adviser to the Edwards campaign, said the former North Carolina senator's delegates "are very, very committed to John Edwards."

He said at least six of his eight delegates in South Carolina are prepared to endorse Obama.

"I think you will see overwhelming support of John Edwards delegates standing with John Edwards, and now standing for Barack Obama," he said on CNN's "American Morning."

Obama said he hopes Edwards takes an active role in his campaign, but he declined to speculate about an Obama-Edwards ticket.

As Obama inches closer to the Democratic nomination, there's been renewed talk of a joint ticket with Clinton. Obama has said both Edwards and Clinton would be on his shortlist, but he has repeatedly said it's too early to start talking about it.

Clinton on Thursday was scheduled to campaign in Bath, South Dakota, before heading to California for a fundraiser.


Clinton's campaign is about $20 million in the red. The senator from New York spent Wednesday meeting with her finance team and reaching out to undeclared superdelegates.

Obama was expected to be in Chicago and had a fundraiser scheduled in the evening.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/15/dems.wrap/index.html?iref=mpstoryviewShare
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Monique Faulkner
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« Reply #1 on: May 15, 2008, 11:02:04 am »

Edwards endorses Obama, praises Clinton
Story Highlights
NEW: Edwards: "Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I"

NEW: Obama thanks Edwards for his work to "make us one America"

Clinton campaign: "We respect John Edwards, but ... this thing is far from over"

Edwards dropped out of race in January; both Obama and Clinton sought backing



From Ed Hornick
CNN

     
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.



Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John Edwards in a CNN sponsored debate in South Carolina in January.

 "The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd.

"There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up," Edwards said. "There is one man who knows in his heart there is time to create one America, not two ... and that man is Barack Obama."

Edwards also praised Sen. Hillary Clinton's candidacy.

"What she has shown ... is strength and character, and what drives her is something that every single one of us can and should appreciate," Edwards said. "She is a woman who, in my judgment, is made of steel, and she's a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done."  Watch Edwards give his endorsement »

He said that when the nomination battle is over, "and it will be over soon, brothers and sisters ... we must come together as Democrats."

Obama later praised Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, during the rally.

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"I am so grateful ... for John Edwards to come to Michigan tonight. ... I'm grateful for his support ... but more importantly, I want to thank John for everything that he has already done to make us one America," Obama said.  Watch an analysis of the endorsement »

After the announcement, Republican National Committee Chairman Robert Duncan released a statement asking, "Why didn't Edwards endorse sooner?"

"Edwards' endorsement of a candidate he previously blasted as inexperienced, hypocritical and lacking substance will not help Obama with voters looking for real change," he said.

Edwards dropped out of the Democratic race on January 30 after poor showings in the early contests.

He told NBC last week that Obama, the Democratic front-runner, is the party's likely nominee. Both Obama and Clinton had sought Edwards' blessing.  Watch a report on the timing of the endorsement »

Clinton campaign Chairman Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that "We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

According to CNN's latest estimates, Obama has 1,884 total delegates (pledged: 1,600, superdelegates: 284). Clinton has 1,718 total delegates (pledged: 1,445, superdelegates: 273).

Edwards, meanwhile, has 19 total pledged delegates who may or may not pledge their support for Obama at the Democratic National Committee's August convention in Denver, Colorado.

Edwards, who is not a superdelegate, said last week that it was fine for Clinton to continue making her case but expressed concern that a continued campaign could damage the party's prospects in November.

Wednesday's endorsement could help Obama reach out to white blue-collar voters, a demographic that Obama has failed to capture, most notably in the recent Pennsylvania and West Virginia primaries.

Edwards had campaigned on the message that he was standing up for the little guy, the people who are not traditionally given a voice in Washington, and that he would do more to fight special interests.

After dropping out of the race, Edwards asked Clinton and Obama to make poverty a central issue in the general election and a future Democratic administration, something both agreed to do.  Watch Edwards discuss Obama and Clinton on "Larry King Live" »

An endorsement from Edwards, who ran as vice president on Sen. John Kerry's ticket in the 2004 presidential election, would have a significant impact on the race, Democratic strategist Peter Fenn said after Edwards dropped out.

"You could make an argument that the change issue does benefit Barack Obama, that he picks up that support. You could also make the argument that there's a lot of support out there amongst people that will go to Hillary," he said.

Some political pundits predicted Edwards' supporters are more likely to lean in Obama's direction.

"The conventional wisdom is that Barack Obama will pick up maybe 60 percent of them, and in some places, that makes a huge difference," former presidential adviser David Gergen said in January.

Time magazine's Joe Klein said Clinton "represents a lot of the things that [Edwards] campaigned against, you know, the old Washington Democratic establishment that he believes got too close to the corporations in the '90s."

Edwards announced that he was dropping out in New Orleans, Louisiana, the same city where he declared his run for the 2008 Democratic presidential race.

"It is time for me to step aside so that history can blaze its path," he said.

With his wife and children at his side, Edwards said he couldn't predict "who will take the final steps to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," but he said it would be a Democrat.

Edwards trailed Clinton and Obama in the early contests. He came in third in key races in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Klein said Edwards played a positive role in spurring his competitors during the early part of the campaign.

"On a lot of substantive issues like health insurance, he was the first one out of the box with a very ambitious universal plan, and I think he forced the others to become bolder in a lot of their policy prescriptions, energy dependence and so on," Klein said.


Edwards is a South Carolina native with an undergraduate degree from North Carolina State University and law degree from the University of North Carolina.

Before entering politics, winning a Senate seat from North Carolina in 1998, Edwards was a lawyer representing families "being victimized by powerful interests," according to his campaign Web site.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/14/edwards.obama/index.html
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