John Edwards Endorsement Talks Underway
UPDATE: Tonight's meeting between Obama and Edwards has been postponed, according to ABC's Political Radar:
While it is unclear which party ultimately pulled the plug on tonight's meeting between Obama and Edwards, sources indicate the meeting will be rescheduled in coming days.
No cause was given for the abrupt rescheduling but sources have indicated that the Obama campaign and Edwards wished that the meeting would be done in private without massive media attention.
Former Sen. John Edwards "met with Hillary Clinton Thursday in North Carolina, and is meeting with Barack Obama Monday, to discuss a possible primary endorsement." CNN reports:
The Thursday meeting, which took place at Edwards' home in Chapel Hill, was followed by a Saturday night session during which the former North Carolina senator and several longtime advisers discussed many issues, including which candidate he should endorse. [...]
At a Chapel Hill party yesterday for Edwards supporters, he gave no indication who he might endorse, or whether that endorsement is imminent. Some advisers are encouraging him not to endorse.The former candidate is weighing a number of considerations before making his choice - including electability, and who will best promote his ideas.
There are policy considerations at play: there is a sense within the Edwards camp that Clinton's policies could be better for working class Americans. But Obama's anti-lobbyist proposals are more aligned with Edwards' politics.
In response to a CNN report that Elizabeth Edwards may favor Obama over Clinton, sources close to the Edwards family flatly deny that she favors one candidate over the other.
Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central spoke to an Edwards aide who offered more details, including: "There's a greater than 50% chance he will endorse."
The Edwards aide cautioned against reading too much into the meetings, saying that he'd been talking to both of them before. "He's torn," the aide said "He has reservations about Hillary, which are pretty apparent."
On Obama, the aide says, Edwards worries "whether he's tough enough to be President of the United States. If you look at what Edwards ran on, which is not negotiating with the special interests, taking away their power, that's pretty different than the Obama model."The Edwards aide added that Obama's lack of a health care plan with a "mandate" is a "tough hurdle for him to get over." He added, however, that Edwards is much more in line with Obama on other issues.
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| February 11, 2008 01:11 PM