Edwards On His Candidate: I Already Voted For Him?

John Edwards appeared on Morning Joe today to talk about the state of the race, which means he spent most of his time defending questions about why he has not endorsed yet. But a few people are saying he slipped in his stonewalling, accidentally suggesting that he voted for Obama.

Edwards acknowledged that he voted in the North Carolina primary, and that he would likely support that candidate. He then said, "I already voted for him."

Or did he? With that North Carolina accent, it might have been "I already voted for 'em." Ben Smith thinks it's the latter; Mark Halperin is undecided.

The whole interview is worth a watch, as Edwards talks about what motivates a person to run a presidential campaign. Watch the whole thing, or jump to about to 9:45 hear Edwards' comments on who he voted for:

Comments

[gapanther]

Dont let the southern twang throw you off. He said "I voted for 'em on Tuesday". It was intentionally gender nuetral. Although I would love for him to come on over to Obama officially.

[joeholla]

"em" for sure. the guy even asks a follow up "Him or Her?" and he shakes his head that he won't answer

[Alessan]

"I would love him to come on over to Obama officially", why? Obama will pick Dodd, or Richardson
they endorsed him, he needs their help, because he knows nothing. Unless of course he bows down
to the typical white lady Hillary, and apologizes to her, for being a smartass, during the debates. But
then he'd have to deal with Bill, who said a vote for Obama is risky. Bill is right, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get.

[1PALady]

I watched him on Mornin Mika this morning and I thought the same thing when I heard it. I don't think he meant for it to slip, but it did slip.

[marc1antony]

Elizabeth is obviously for Hillary, and he was for Obama... and I think he is right, it's a moot point now that NC is over and done with, and Obama is the deal.

[deweshk]

Granted Edwards loves the limelight, why feature him at all. He's a dishonest same o'l Washington politician who wants it both ways and find excuses to justify his actions. I regret wasting my vote on him -wish i can do it again.

[robynuva]

I heard the interview live, and got the impression that the obama camp has asked him to wait before announcing his endoresment.

[nsiah7]

Why are these so called elders of the party cutting corners? It is pure and simple. Clinton and her camp think Obama cannot win because he is black. That interview is a clear example of her trying to use the so called "Hard working White American" race card to push Obama away. She has used all the metrics and none has been successful so her flimsy excuse to "white hard working Americans" is the new metric. That is what it is.

[Alessan]

You people keep forgetting George Bush won in 2000 & 2004, the candidates he ran against were as white as they get and super rich, his wealth puts John Edwards look like a pauper. Who voted for GW, well it was the same people Hillary Clinton is talking about. Kerry got the majority of black votes in every southern state, obviously few of the whites, he won NY and Calif. you would have thought it was in the bag, it wasn't.
Stolen, smollen, both times, Gore and Kerry and neither look black to me. Hillary is right and cautious., the Democrats should be if they don't want McSame and the sleazy Republicans running the show.

Stop trying to get into John Edward's mind, why don't you all switch to Gore, or Jimmy Carter for an
endorsement, before Tuesday...

[verlaine]

John Edwards is a profile in political cowardice. He's as spineless as a jellyfish. Hillary must have some incredible dirt on Edwards for him to have become so gutless.

[Dee123]

Agree! Either that or his wife has him hen picked. Edwards' wife openly said she has endorsed Hiliary's health plan. I wouldn't be surprised if Edward voted for Hiliary.

[Missmn]

I watched this this morning and the captioning was "I just voted for him on Tuesday," but listening to the audio, it certainly sounds as if he said, "em" and not "him." I do think it's clear from the rest of his comments that he voted for Obama. I think the clincher is when she says that Elizabeth voted for the other candidate.

[rnb]

He definitely says "voted for 'em".

That doesn't mean it's not almost definitely Obama, cause Edwards made it pretty clear what writing he is reading on the wall, but he didn't admit to it.

[barrista]

He pretty much admitted it. He wouldn't say whether or not he and his wife voted for the same person BIG CLUE. She voted for Hillary likely, ergo....

[nazardesign]

Well, unless he's accustomed to generalizing about one woman as him I think he let it slip.

[robXdion]

Wifey is gonna put him in dog house for this......­.....or maybe in the guest room of that mansion.

[SeriousBlack]

Oh come on. Voted for "THem"? Very unlikely.

[RyanB]

Well he couldn't have voted for two people - "them" wouldn't make sense in this context.

[SeriousBlack]

That's what I meant - It had to be "voted for him" :)

[Zogtastic]

Them is gender neutral and there isn't a gender neutral singular pronoun other than 'it'... it's like saying him or her... only a lot easier to say.

[CulureFX]

don't hold back now john, just jump right in obama the waters!!