Former Democratic Senator John Edwards endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the party’s presidential nomination — giving Obama a long-sought-after endorsement that both he and rival Senator Hillary Clinton sought…and raining on Clinton’s post-West Virginia primary political parade.
It was a sign of just how quickly this see-saw political drama can change, with Clinton last night insisting she’s in it for a while and can win last night, pundits seemingly rethinking Obama’s strength as a candidate even if he got the votes to be nominated, and the conventional wisdom seemingly starting to veer a bit against Obama’s electability, even though some poll numbers put Obama ahead.
But the main significance is this: in his endorsement Edwards came on a day when Obama picked up some more Superdelegates and added to the impression that the party is now starting to come together around Obama, even though the Illinois Senator was clobbered by Clinton — and blue collar voters — in West Virginia yesterday.
Over the past week many pundits wondered why more Democratic superdelegates and party bigwigs haven’t come foward to endorse Obama — and this could mark the start of Obama’s parade. It’s big news that in media terms is overshadowing Clinton’s win and the loss Barack suffered among several demographic groups in West Virginia.
Clinton needed to get a message out that she is still viable. West Virginia got her the media spotlight. Obama needed to the message out that he is ahead and can unify the party to start the battle against presumptive GOP Senator John McCain. Edwards’ endorsement now got him the media spotlight, and shoved West Virginia (for now) down in the news story rank.
Just look at some of the media coverage. MSNBC (linked above):
Democrat John Edwards endorsed former rival Barack Obama on Wednesday, 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.
Edwards made a surprise appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as the Illinois senator campaigns in a critical general election battleground state.
The endorsement came a day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in the West Virginia primary. The loss highlighted Obama’s challenge in winning over the “Hillary Democrats” — white, working-class voters who also supported Edwards in significant numbers before he exited the race in late January.
Edwards made a point of praising Clinton:
Edwards, who received a thunderous ovation when Obama introduced him to a 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.
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.”
CNN reports that the GOP and Clinton camps were quick to respond to 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.
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.
Imagery matters in politics because it helps shape perceptions of momentum. Clinton is expected to win the upcoming Kentucky primary handily. Obama is expected to win Oregon handily. Will one of them come up short in this see-saw political drama?
So in 24 hours we’ve seen the “see.”
And now we’ve seen the “saw.”
What’s the next “see”?
[CORRECTION: We erroneously had “white collar workers” in this post. It has been fixed to “blue collar workers.” TMV regrets the error…JG]
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.