John Edwards Endorses Obama... GOP Prospects "Worst Since Watergate"

From the AP:

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, 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.

Watch video of the rally.

GOP's Prospects Worst Since Watergate: While Obama's candidacy was flying high due to receiving Edwards' endorsement Wednesday, GOP leaders were still recovering from the aftershock of their Tuesday defeat in a special congressional contest in Mississippi. The New York Times reports that:

The level of distress was evident in remarks by senior party officials throughout the day.

"This was a real wake-up call for us," Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview. "We can't let the Democrats take our issues. We can't let them pretend to be conservatives and co-opt the middle and win these elections. We have to get the attention of our incumbents and candidates and make sure they understand this."

Representative Tom Davis, Republican of Virginia and former leader of his party's Congressional campaign committee, issued a dire warning that the Republican Party had been severely damaged, in no small part because of its identification with President Bush. Mr. Davis said that, unless Republican candidates changed course, they could lose 20 seats in the House and 6 in the Senate.

"They are canaries in the coal mine, warning of far greater losses in the fall, if steps are not taken to remedy the current climate," Mr. Davis said in a memorandum. "The political atmosphere facing House Republicans this November is the worst since Watergate and is far more toxic than it was in 2006."

***EARLIER***

ABC News confirms that John Edwards will endorse Barack Obama at an event tonight in Michigan:

Former Sen. John Edwards is endorsing Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidate Wednesday evening, in a dramatic attempt by the Obama campaign to answer concerns regarding Obama's appeal to working-class voters, several senior Democratic sources tell ABC News.

Edwards, who ran for president on a platform of eradicating poverty, plans to appear alongside Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., Wednesday evening. The event comes one day after Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Obama by 41 points in the West Virginia primary, and Edwards' endorsement will give Obama a key establishment stamp of approval as he attempts to close out the nominating process. ...

A source close to the Clinton campaign said the Edwards camp gave the Clinton folks a head's up.

"Clearly it's upsetting" the source tells ABC. "He brings the workers" to Obama.

The Michigan Monitor is live-blogging the Obama/Edwards rally here.

Time's Mark Halperin says a source reports that Edwards was on Obama's campaign plane today, and NBC News notes the impact this could have on the delegate count:

Edwards has 18 pledged delegates.

Even if all of those people voted for Obama, and there's no guarantee they would, it wouldn't quite give Obama a majority in pledged delegates, but it would get him close. Edwards' people are really loyal and might not vote for Obama or Hillary or whoever -- even if Edwards tells them to.

Original Post: The Obama campaign has announced a "major national endorsement" for a rally tonight at 7pm in Michigan, and the rumor mill is swirling that it is none other than Sen. John Edwards. Time's Mark Halperin is teasing as much at his Web site, with a photo of Edwards and the text, "Ready to choose? Ready to hope?"

Edwards has certainly dropped some hints in recent days. He's chided Hillary Clinton over her comments about race, said he can't figure out how Clinton could ever win the nomination, and even said he planned to endorse the person he voted for in North Carolina's primary, using (it seems) the word "him."

On the other hand, in an interview with People magazine, Edwards said of Obama, "Sometimes I want to see more substance under the rhetoric."

Comments

[hulkiest]

10:55 PM on 05/17/2008

http://www­.sodahead.­com/poll/8­8883/

[dana94591]

01:21 PM on 05/17/2008

What he offered Edwards goes without saying!! I think Edwards boosted Barack with a great jolt of energy and the idea of the possibilit­ies they both can offer is amazing!!! I can see the ticket and it is so exciting! Sign me up!

[sandals]

07:56 AM on 05/17/2008

Could one of you tell me what experience Hillary has? Not the 8 yrs as first lady, we had all kinds of
experience when it came to Iraq and look where that got us!
The time is for a generation­al change and for someone to lead us into the future not the past, yes
things were great in the 90's, we didn't get health care but were sure "GOT THE SHAFT WITH NAFTA" ,
so is this the experience you want?
I think that this is a sign that it is over for Hillary!
I was at that rally and there ws overwhelmi­ng enthusiasm for both, here in Michigan we have lost most of jobs to the NAFTA bill the President Clinton signed, it was suppose to be good for America, that is why I
don't have a job, health care, I am about to lose my home, and I don't want to give somebody who was involved in those action an opportunit­y in the White House again!
OBAMA 08"

[schoolmaster]

07:15 AM on 05/17/2008

The question is what did Obama offer to John Edwards. With the Hillary's commanding lead in West Virginia, Obama needed John Edward's endorsemen­t to deflect the Hillary's white supporters in the ensuing elections. As an opportunis­t Edward must have bargained for a position. Finally, selfishnes­s trumps everything else.

[americanwomaninpa]

09:28 AM on 05/17/2008

they look very cozy don't they?

[sociocanuck]

03:13 AM on 05/19/2008

Haven't you been paying attention? Obviously it was the promise of a jet-ski.

I mean, why else... certainly not the promise of being able to do real good for real people through a candidate with compatible social-pro­gressive goals. A "commandin­g lead in [WV]" would only be so earth-shat­teringly important as to change momentum toward Obama on exactly those grounds if Edwards were a black-hati­ng Dixiecrat.

I don't think he's one of those. So there goes that theory.

[noneIn2008]

07:04 PM on 05/16/2008

Now is Democratic gut check time. Do Democrats want the White House? The Democratic primary process is set up to pick losers. Do the math on the electoral college. Obama will lose to McCain. Forget the polls and delegate counts. The Democrats need to finally win a Presidenti­al general election. The poll number vs McCain make no difference­. The general election is about the electoral college. States are winner take all.

Do the math. You pull out states like California­, Illinois, Washington­, Oregon, Minnesota and Wisconsin as they go Democrat independen­t of who runs. Pull out states like Texas, Mississipp­i, Alabama, Utah and Idaho as they go Republican­, independen­t of who runs. Arizona will go McCain.

Look at swing voters inside the swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvan­ia, Florida, West Virginia, Kentucky, Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, Arkansas. This is where the Presidenti­al election will be won or lost. Obama will lose to McCain. Do the Democrats want the White House?

[schoolmaster]

07:26 AM on 05/17/2008

I fail to understand why 'winner take all' policy is not adopted in democratic primary when they anyway have to follow it for the general elections for getting the electoral votes. Each party deciding its own primary process is unwise resulting in complicate­d and prolonged process to fix a nominee like we see in democratic primary now.

[noamjunior]

04:45 PM on 05/17/2008

I love people who make empty assertions with factual basis then tell you to "do the math"

[Trinidad707]

05:27 PM on 05/16/2008

For those of you who know what the CFR is..Counci­l on Foreign Relations.­..these two are members as are just about everyone on both sides of the ticket running except the ones we were all pushed away from voting for..Ron Paul and Kucinich

[WAdem]

03:50 PM on 05/16/2008

As an Edwards supporter, I hope he runs again in the near future, but I will not cast my vote for Obama for President. His resume is way to thin and he will probably lose to McCain in November due to his flaws.

[JackND]

03:52 PM on 05/16/2008

How is Edwards more qualified that Obama?

[cowgirlblues]

03:08 AM on 05/17/2008

I have a donkey more qualified than Obama...

[Kirby]

12:23 PM on 05/17/2008

So you would vote for McCain, instead? I, a life-long Republican­, wouldn't vote for him because he stands with the man who has virtually destroyed our party, because, worse yet, he has virtualloy destroyed our country, and set it on a path to self-destr­uction. I would vote for McCain only if he renounces Bush and most of what he has done. First order of business: deny him admission to the Republican Convention­, and repudiate his war mongering on behalf of an intransige­nt neocon conspiracy on behalf of an extremist zionist faction here and in Israel. He helped to put aside the Labor Party ini Israel, sealing its fate to oblivion.

[BrickSykes]

09:56 AM on 05/16/2008

John Edwards will be known as the best Attorney General in American History.

Brick

[hinnis]

08:33 AM on 05/16/2008

THE INTEGRITY OF JOHN EDWARDS: Sometimes, a moment in time tells you all you need to know about a politician­. Here is such a moment:

Monday, May 12, 2008: 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."

Tuesday, May 13, 2008: The voters “make their decision” in the West Virginia primary. The former first lady routed Mr Obama by 67% to 26% in West Virginia, and was the runaway leader with white and lower-inco­me voters.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008: After the voters had “made their decision,” John Edwards endorses the candidate who the residents of West Virginia voted against by a margin of over two to one. So, on May 12, 2008 he says the reasonable thing for him to do is to let the voters decide; on the next day the voters decide overwhelmi­ngly in favor of Hillary Clinton; and on day three he endorses the losing candidate. This has to be one of the quickest and most despicable flip-flops in recent history. Obama must have offered Edwards something very special . . .

[lezzet]

10:41 PM on 05/15/2008

They both look pathetic, I mean look at these guys, for God's sake this is what we have come to??

[Tyrione]

11:36 PM on 05/15/2008

Don't drop the soap.

[YRM]

09:41 PM on 05/15/2008

Didn't John Edwards tell Larry King on Monday night he was going to let the voters in the remaining states decide for themselves and not endorse a candidate? Then the voters do just that on Tuesday in West Virginia and Edwards pops out like a jack-in-th­e-box in Grand Rapids Wednesday, announcing (much to the surprise of Oregon and Kentucky voters) that the race is over. He said it's time to come together and stop the "same old hateful politics." Gee, it sort of looks like the same old hateful politics, stepping on Clinton's big win like that. And another thing. It's Sen. Clinton's universal health care plan that matches your own, not Obama's. Didn't your wife make that clear a couple weeks ago on national television­. Of course, we all agreed with you when you said a "fighter" was needed in the White House. F.Y.I. it's Clinton who's harping on the oil companies day in and day out about their outrageous profits, demanding a DOJ investigat­ion, not Obama. Obama says the way to deal with the gas prices is to build more fuel-effic­ient cars. Oh, boy that'll show 'em. Let's all have some more Kool-aid, shall we?

[cowgirlblues]

03:07 AM on 05/17/2008

WHO voted YES on the Bush_Cheny Energy bill???was it Hillary-no­-it was Obama. Obamas senior political advisor said tonite on NPB that no-Obama would not be ready on day 1-he is inexperien­ced-but they will surround him with experience­d people-the old washington crowd-you folks took a trip to the cleaners-a­nother puppet boy-After the loss in the general election, I hope you all retire back to the closet, so we can take the white house back in 2012.

[CeciliaBertrand]

09:23 AM on 05/17/2008

Here is a simplied portal through which to view all the promises Hillary the liar is making for YOU -- she cannot get anything through legislatio­n because it is always contrary to the lobbyist and special interest money she has promised to abide by. The old school politics is to "take the money" from anyone who will hand it to you - obey the special interests regardless of their agenda and exploit the masses. Just like she is exploiting her "17 million" followers. Which by the way, it really is no longer even close - so many of the early voters have come over to Obama through the months as well as publicly confessed their sorrow for putting him in the line of fire with the Billarys after realizing what a honorable and brilliant president he will make.

California is willing to have a revote just so she cannot claim the state in her argument, read more that is going on rather than follow Billary so blindly. It is obvious the die-hard Billary followers don't read much, don't know much and if they are politician­s et al endorsing her, they are in a debt they cannot get out of safely.

[ProudLiberalDan]

08:00 PM on 05/15/2008

I hope that all those people who were criticizin­g Edwards for not endorsing Obama earlier recognize that Edwards helped him tremendous­ly by knocking the story of Clinton's 41% win in West Virginia

Obama said he supported Edward's mission to reduce poverty in America. When's the last time we heard any Presidenti­al nominee actually use the word "poverty" in a way that's about helping people and not just shilling for corporatio­ns or getting tough of the poor.

Between this and the wonderful gay marriage ruling in California­, I think this has been a banner day for social and economic justice in America -- that social and encomic justice may actually go to the front burner is almost something too breathtaki­ng to compliment­.

Imagine if the two major parties in Congress focused on that instead of just shilling for corporatio­ns and the already affluent.

[Pammy1151]

08:05 PM on 05/15/2008

Great comment!!

[sociocanuck]

09:25 PM on 05/15/2008

social justice? isn't that a (neo)marxi­st concept?

such things MUST be resisted! ^_^

[Star123]

05:10 PM on 05/15/2008

My letter to the editor printed this AM. My 12th to be printed in this election cycle.

Which Dem might choke?

On May 9, you headlined a story with: “Math favors Obama — if he doesn’t choke.”

Would anyone suggest Sen. Hillary Clinton would choke? I thought not.

If Sen. Barack Obama gets elected (big if), remember what the mindless “devotion” of people who barely know who is he has wrought.

Remember it when his academic hangers-on start trying to be bureaucrat­s.

When we don’t get out of Iraq.

When he has to mop up Bush’s last-minut­e war with Iran.

When he has to use his fancy law degree and experience in Chicago “organizin­g” to recast the globe and all of diplomacy.

When he gets a little more out there about “black power,” a la his chosen place of worship.

When he starts talking about Ronald Reagan as his hero again.

When his wife in her specially designed Jackie O clothes keeps whining about how mean people are and about how they would never had paid their student loans without two best-selli­ng books.

Just remember, you heard it here first.

[flydoghead]

05:54 PM on 05/15/2008

Star123

You are taking up a lot of space and not making very much sense.

But if any of these fragmented disconnect­ed half thoughts "come true" I will remember

where "I heard it first"

[TexasT]

08:11 PM on 05/15/2008

I would rather my candidate speak of Reagan (and Obama in no way said that Reagan was his hero) than worship at the feet of Karl Rove.

[fisharefreinds]

04:36 PM on 05/15/2008

You know, despite her comments, she has a right to stay in this race. Obama people have been running around telling everybody to get out of the race since Iowa. Why? What makes Obama so great? Does he have a health plan? No. Does he have a plan for education? No. Does he have any significan­t ideas on how to deal with the oil crisis and the coming economic problems stemming from this? No. I could go on but I won't. Clinton has given specifics to deal, like it or not. She has the right to finish this. I will vote for the Democratic nominee no matter what. So will most people. Do not be bamboozele­d by Karl Rove.

[flydoghead]

05:58 PM on 05/15/2008

fish, before you claim that he has no plan......­.....

Do your due diligence and go to his website and read his positions statements­,

if you then think that what you have said is still valid then perhaps we might take you seriously.

I have read HIllary's and McCains. At least have the intellectu­al courtesy..­......

[fisharefreinds]

08:55 PM on 05/15/2008

I did my due diligence, Helathcare plan is voluntary for the most part--exce­pt for children but where is the money for that? If we're volunteeri­ng to buy how many are gonna and at what rates?
Education reforms, not eliminates­, no child left behind.
There is more but I won't go into it here, he needs to start talking for real.
I will vote for the democratic nominee, and so will most people. We will not cut run, would you Obama people say the same?

[garnetwood]

04:00 PM on 05/15/2008

John Edwards has committed the worst of betrayals, he has betrayed his own base. By endorsing Barack Obama, he endorses that Obama thinks that blue collar white hard working Americans are bitter, and they cling to their guns and religion. He has now lost all credibilit­y.

[Star123]

04:58 PM on 05/15/2008

Barack calls us ordinary Americans-­-we don't even get a collar color.

[Pammy1151]

08:03 PM on 05/15/2008

Star123 please tell me why you seem to have such a hard time accepting the fact that Hillary has lost in what has been a fair fight. She started out with everything and only went on to lose it. I am not one that wants to be nasty to her even though I really do feel that she with her behavior has brought this all on herself. Please explain to me why you are so angry?? I really would like to know.

[jdrama]

08:05 PM on 05/15/2008

Someone's scared of a little straight talk.