Why John Edwards Endorsed Obama Today

A lot is being said right now to the effect of, "What took him so long?" Some people are criticizing John Edwards for not endorsing sooner. I happen to think that today is the perfect day for Edwards to endorse, not so much because he was trounced in West Virginia yesterday, but because of the current state of the race and because of past statements made by John Edwards and his top advisers.

John Edwards said that he would not make an endorsement until the race was over -- until the nominee was determined. Then, today, after Obama received a trouncing in West Virginia, he announces his endorsement.

Some have questioned this, asking why he is going back on his word and endorsing before the race is over. I don't think he is going back on his word at all. He is sending a message, and that message is, "The race is over."

John Edwards is saying, let's circle the wagons. Obama is our guy. The people have spoken. The race for Democratic presidential nominee is over.

Yesterday, I wrote a Daily Kos diary about an article that Joe Trippi wrote in Campaigns and Elections Magazine. He expressed regret that he had advised Edwards to follow his heart when asked for advice of whether to withdraw from the presidential race. He said he wished he had told him to stay in the race. But, he added (and this is important):

"The senator questioned why he'd be remaining in the race. Would he be grinding out delegates only to be in a position to cut a deal at the convention for his own gain? That wasn't why he had gotten into the race for president. He had entered it to push causes like ending poverty, championing health care for every American and fighting for working people, and it just wasn't him to turn it into a selfish quest. I really respect that, and it helps explain why I so fervently wanted John Edwards to become president. The man cared deeply about those causes, and he did not want to see them tarnished because of a string of embarrassing losses."

Trippi would not have written such an article without running it by Edwards first. They are reportedly close friends, and insiders say that Trippi is extremely loyal to Edwards. This seems to be a concerted message, "When it is clear you cannot win, staying in the race is for personal gain."

Trippi's admission that he wishes he had advised Edwards to stay in the race could be taken as a nod to Hillary Clinton that it's ok to stay in the race, but I don't think so. I think it was simply meant to soften the blow of these specific words:

"Would he be grinding out delegates only to be in a position to cut a deal at the convention for his own gain?"

Of course, Trippi will be on the media circuit over the next few days, answering questions about Edwards, and I'm sure this will come up. We'll see how it plays out, but I'm betting that he'll be asked about these words. I'm betting that he'll say over and over that Edwards exited the race for the good of the country -- this will be a hint to Clinton.

Of course, this also takes the wind out of Clinton's sails from her win yesterday.

Yes, the timing is perfect.

Dawn Teo posts at Daily Kos. She's a supporter of Barack Obama.

Comments

[Raymondf]

What took him so long. He wanted to make sure Obama was going to pick him as Running mate.

[Insightful]

I think it was very mean minded for John Edwards to try to diminish Hillary's major win in WV. This bashing of this woman is truly disgusting. I would assume he was promised a special place in the administration if Obama wins.

Maybe he will be offered the VP job and the 2 of them can go down together. How fitting. They all have their agendas and it isn't about the good of the country. It is about their massive out of control EGOS. YOU NEVER WERE THAT POPULAR jOHN. You never even carried your own state.
I am one of those who will never vote for this Obama and his cohorts. You can take it to the bank. We are legion and we are sick of the dirty tricks a lot of you have been pulling to keep a woman out of office.

[SifSkade]

Hillary was always scheduled to win West Virginia by a landslide; there was never any question. So it's not some major accomplishment; all she had to do to win was stay white. Sorry.

[Alessan]

Hillary Clinton said in a speech she was making that John Edwards would have a place in
her adeministration should she be elected.

He took so long because he couldn't decide which candidate he wanted to vote for because
both were so close in agreement on the same issues. Both agreed with him on the
issues that were important to John Edwards. Except for Universal healthcare Hillary's
plan was closer to John's plan. He just said in an interview after speaking to Obama
that Obama will propose a plan that would include healthcare for all, I think that plan
would leave out 15 million people as Obama's healthcare plan does at the moment.

Why don't you people read the article, John Edwards is out of the race, he has nothing to gain
either by endorsing or not endorsing. He chose to endorse when he wanted to after
Obama call him and asked quite a few times. He really didn't feel an endorsement
before Feb 5, when he dropped out would have made any difference because he didn't have that much influence and that he had told his supporters to vote their conscience and Hillary and Obama were doing okay.
As John was a candidate that had lost, he felt he would not be appreciated, and
guess what you people are showing that he was right all along. ' Name calling and belittling the
man.

All of you are mean spirited and evil, evil words will come back to haunt you.

[Jazzbeau]

"I am one of those who will never vote for this Obama and his cohorts. You can take it to the bank. We are legion and we are sick of the dirty tricks a lot of you have been pulling to keep a woman out of office."

I was Clinton supporter when she was still 'inevitable.' Then she and her campaign began the kitchen sink strategy. I and many others are fed up with this kind of Repugnantcan politics. Their choice made me take a closer look at Senator Obama.

For me the last straw was her public fawning over 'patriotic' and 'qualified' Senator McCain at the expense of another Democrat and of her own party. John McCain in the oval office would be an unmitigated disaster, nothing less than a third Bush term.

So, go ahead, vote for McSame or help him by failing to vote for the Democratic nominee. When he wins?
- A couple of more Supremes in the Thomas/Scalia mold
- Goodbye Roe v Wade
- Hello endless war in the Middle East
- Goodbye middle class
- Hello universal military draft
- Goodbye middle class tax relief
- Hello to even more welfare for the wealthy

Sure you're disappointed but, please, when you vote use your head and not your heart. The dirty tricks that have been pulled to keep this woman out of the oval office were pulled by herself and her campaign. She ran an inept campaign, does that mean she'd run a

[Bettysdad]

Yes, Edwards broke his word. But so what? Who did it hurt? But he had to. During the time he was speaking those totally gracious words he said about Mrs. Bill Clinton he was standing on her throat trying to get th message across, The message being: it's over. Go away. Unlike Mrs. Clinton, Edwards puts the party and nation waaaay above Mrs. Clinton. Edwards knows that Obama is the candidate most in tune with progressive values, and should be the nominee and eventual winner. The simple timing of the endorsement was a huge slap in Hillary's face after her big victory among the aged, uneducated, illinformed and white. And it worked.

[Georgiadude]

To my knowledge, there have not been any comments on the MSM concerning John Edwards' call for Universal health care during his endorsement , I believe Mrs. Edwards wish to have that inserted into the endorsement, thereby allowing the announcement sooner rather than later.
It is also my belief that the 'hardworking white Americans' comment noted by Mrs. Clinton was the primary catalysis prompting John Edwards to announce his endorsement Wednesday, the time line of all the relevant comments by all involved seems to fit, otherwise i suspect that he would have waited for the primaries to play out, then commit.

[Simonanunhappydem]

I believe that the true "catalyst" for the Edwards endorsement was a promise for a cabinet post from Obama. Edwards is a politician who can be bought, same as most others, particularly like Richardson, whom I found particularly disgusting.

[JohnFromCapeCod]

There was a certain "Slickness" to this Timing and endorcement. A slickness and Political move
i would not of expected from Sen. Obama and somehow it makes me a tad "uneasy" with it all.

If Edwards had Campaigned for Barack in West Virginia and then gave a full endorcement, that would be a completly different thing..but he did'nt and somehow i just can't help but wonder just what Edwards is up to. That he has an agenda..i have no doubt..is it good for Barack..i really wonder.

[Alessan]

Obama seemed to be doing well with the whites, mostley rich and the upper class working
people. In all the states with mostly a white population he out won, it seems onl y Pa. and
W. Va., Ohio he did not win. Well, one thing you can't win everything, another thing he said
he would do well with all people, well Hillary has proved that's not true. He learned the
hard way, that he is not this perfect candidate that everyone loves. Edwards wants the party
and the people to be one, not divided, the separation of all blacks voting for Obama and
working class whites voting for mostly Hillary in Pa. and W. Va. was a sure sign of a divide, which
,could end up hurting the Dems in the general election, he thought him endorsing would make
the rest of the delegates make their decision so the candidate could be decided on by June 3rd.

[lavisiter]

NO, he broke his word alright! And it wasn't that long ago in one of the FIRST debates that he CLEARLY alligned himself with the guy - and began yes, bullying Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was like a slap in the face for me. To that point I admired Edwards! But he's just another one of the INDUDES in the Washington Power structure that from the beginning had EVERY intention of making sure (as it happens everywhere in America today) that WOMEN are left out of that POWER structure! Now it's "ALL men" in the club - because in the past it was only the elite "white male" club that held the reigns of the power structure - a structure that for centuries has held SO MANY people back! CHANGE? No change! Just more of the absolute SAME but this time all dressed up in a new outfit!

What a disappointment but at least his dishonesty is transparent!

[Bettysdad]

After reading your posts so many times, can we take it on fact that you live a pretty unhappy life?

[rleroygordon]

Puh-lease! Spare us the paranoiac "Women are Oh-Press-Said by the Male-dominated Power Structure!" You sound like a Johnny Bircher, seeing a commie behind every tree.

I'm not opposed to Clinton because I "Don't believe women are qualified for the highest office in the land." I'm opposed to her because she's a liar and a cheat and she has no integrity. We Americans need leaders--both male AND FEMALE--we can trust. Hillary ain't one of them. And she isn't that way because she feels "Oh-Pressed-Said" but because of a basic character flaw--she's completely self-absorbed.

[THINKB4USPEAK]

Much as I am reluctant to jump into this, I must. Does anyone out there really think it will make any difference who is in the oval office if China invades India to cement their Asian dominance forever? Or if a radical Muslim nation uses a black market nuke on Israel? The real problem here is that our system is flawed, inasmuch as as lucrative "positions" can be created to benefit the children of the elite, when no actual need exists for those positions. This creates an imbalance in the economy whereby people who should starve to death because of their uselessness are elevated with money which be going to the producers. I am not afraid of the phantom enemies promoted by our government for the past eight years, and before(think domino effect in SE asia). I am afraid of the oldest continuously existing civilization on Earth, China.

[antirepublocrat]

Oh, my goodness! Where to begin? You say, "I am not afraid of the phantom enemies promoted by our government for the past eight years," but you've cited exactly one of those "phantom enemies" promoted by our government, China. China has no intention of attacking India, and whom do you think told you to be afraid of China besides our government? Those very same utterly useless children of the elite who have had positions created for them at places like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. I'm talking about people like William Kristol, one of the authors of the Plan for a New American Century. They're always inventing enemies to scare you, but there is no country in the world more addicted to war and threatening other countries than the US.

China is no threat to you. What's eating your lunch is the US Military Establishment.

[RoloTomassi]

the Geo-political scene is becoming a different animal than what we've ever experienced before; one of the primary fears [and one that isn't propaganda] is the rising energy & finanical coalitions between Middle Eastern & Asian countries.

I think one of the reasons the US government has played such an inconsistent role in distributing nuclear weapons and picking/favoring client states has to do with the inevitability of the rise of such coalitions and their likelyhood of eventually dethroning the US as a global superpower.

Threat, as defined by the NeoCons, isn't just about military actions; the NeoConservatives insist that we must remain a global power that dictates policy to other nations, and in that sense, the very viable relationships being forged between China, Iran and Russia are indeed a threat to our continued domination. I personally don't feel that such global domination is necessary or even desirable, but many in this country fear that if we do not remain a superpower and a worldwide oil-related engery crisis starts bringing major economies to their knees, we'll be too vulnerable to attack--or to put it more accurately, vulnerable to retribution for our long list of misdeeds against other sovereign nations.

[democratsaint]

lets see the guy who claims he is for the poor tosses his support for the guy who get the over 100k votes.
actually i figured this was going to happen ever since he dropped out so early.look for edwards to have a say on the plank and maybe a post.this was 1 of the 2 things obama needed get edwards out so he doesnt split the liberal vote and call clinton a racists so he can get all the black vote.

so after obama loses in nov i wander if we willhear form him again.

[Bettysdad]

What is the problem with the guy who claims he is for the poor tosses his support for the guy who get the over 100k votes.

History shows that the movements t5hat aided the impoverished were almost always the wealthy.

[reelcobra]

This is a golden time to be a Democrat!

We have such an abundance of talent it's almost embarassing.

It's hard to narrow it down.

We have the "aww shucks" down to earth Edwards, reminding us there are two America's while fronting and then quitting a hedge fund and building the largest house in North Carolina.

We have the HillBilly wrecking crew, blazing a trail through the mountains of Robert Byrd's West Virginia (wink, wink).

And we have our "Star", now expressing "dissapointment" on a daily basis with almost everything his opponents have to say about him. They cannot use the word "white", cannot mention his middle name, cannot question his affiliations with religious and other fellow travelers. And our President cannot comment on foreign policy without offending the "Star".

This year rocks for Dems.

BHO '08!!

[RoloTomassi]

And to make your point further, we also have a multitude of simpleton, sore-loser half-baked reagan democrat commenters here at HuffPo...oh, but I guess that's not really your point, is it, since you happen to be one of them....

[wrabbitt]

Now the race begins,Hillary has become a speed bump, McCain has thrown Bushs' hat into the ring. Four more years of downhill travel, Has anyone told him that we need to go up to get out of this? Edwards was my choice, he said the things i wanted to hear. And until i sat and listened to one of Obamas speeches, i didn't know who he was! I knew who Hillary was because i live in Upstate New York, and her legendary experience has cost us nearly every good job. Regardless of who you want to vote for, listen to all of the candidates, Ventriloquist bush with his puppet McCain, Both faces of Hillary, and the sincerity of a truly great American Obama, make your own decision, but, listen to them all! not for what they say but how they say it.We are on the brink of a important time in America,This election will either send the country into a new era, or into a terrible abyss. remember the giant sucking sound? Remember Bill and Monica? Where are we going if not up?

[missjabez]

I don't know why Edwards endorsed Obama but I'm awfully glad he did. I will leave it at that.

[Dawn Teo - Huffpost Blogger]

missjabez, you may be the wisest of us all :)

[AxelDC]

Edwards was saying to Clinton: you ran a good race, but you lost. Be graceful as I was and know when to step down.

He wasn't so much endorsing Obama as he was telling Democrats to unite behind their new leader.

[go2jamesday]

The simple reason Edwards chose this moment to "come out" is the Obama team is afraid of Hillary and the momentum behind her campaign and they are desperate to do almost anything to stop her... also, that there is something in it for Edwards (VP). The Obama people were stunned by West Virginia - they also fear that general population has finally caught on that the "The Emperor has no clothes!" Over the next few weeks Obama's people will doing everything they can to keep his wobbly train on the tracks and pray they get to the end of the primary season with at least a small argument left that they should be the nominee. Think about it like the West Virginians are thinking... With Washington so thick with entrenched lobbyists does anyone with half a brain think this skinny one term senator with no significant legislative successes to his credit (with a wife that will be way more embarrassing to America than Hillary ever was) can possibly get anything of importance through congress on behalf of the American people? Is he the guy to navigate through the vested interests of Universal Health Care? Is he the one to create new good jobs? Is he the one to unite our country when he can't even unite the Democratic Party? I am afraid he's going to lose in November... and not because of race but because he has no experience.

[Jiovanna]

You are absolutely on target! Moreover, both Edwards and Obama looked like a couple of whimpy sissy-boys on stage yesterday. And either seems to have the tough inner strength needed to tackle the truly tough issues facing Americans and world-at-large!

It's time Americans get a better grip on reality--glad to meet you go2jamesday! We need more individuals, like you, who are truly 'thinking' and not dreaming of voting for a Michael Jackson-style president! Indeed, we've reached a pathetic moment in history. Colin Powell would have been my choice for a black president but Obama is a joke! So sad.
"It's a sad, sad situation and it's only getting more absurd," sang Elton John.

[lisakaz2]

Momentum? Where? In the SDs I don't see it.

[elizaW]

Edwards dropped out of the race because he's got some personal tabloid issues that the republicans could use against him. He came out for Obama as part of a deal to get a cabinet post. This "doing what's good for the country" stuff is a lot of crap. It's really something that, especially here in L.A., (as well as on this site) where so many Obama supporters take pride in their intelligence, so many of them are so easily duped. Or maybe they're not. Maybe their hatred for Hillary has forced them into a position where they have to use their intelligence to justify their bad choices.

[NorVaGal]

I have not heard of any personal tabloid issues with John Edwards. Please elaborate for us or stop slandering him. Sen. Clinton has courted his endorsement vigorously. Evidently, she does not know about these issues, either. Also, are the former GOP candidates who are coalescing around Sen. McCain also angling for the VP slot or cabinet posts? Are the surrogates and political officials who are supporting Hillary Clinton out for deals to get positions (or influence) in her administration, also? Are Clinton supporters forced into a position where they use their intelligence to justify Hillary"s and their mistakes and bad choices? Your talking points could apply equally well to every candidate, and, campaign that has ever been run. All opinion, no facts.

[AxelDC]

OOOOO, Juicy rumors with no substance! Just what ruins people's lives because you can't fight against phantom evidence that never materializes.

[Ironfox]

Typical Rovian-Billary slander without substance. You people have no shame and don't know when you are defeated. You are not Democrats, but rather, American Peronistas with blind loyalty to a political dynasty. If you can't have your " Evita " then damn the Party and the country.

[lavisiter]

"you people....." Ironfox? Very telling! Sounds bigoted to me.......or is that racist? Hmmm. What a healthy discussion this is turning out to be. Let's hope we get it ALL our of our system!

[RoloTomassi]

If anyone here is duped it's you, don't kid yourself to the contrary; but that's to be expected from such bitter Clinton supporters, I suppose.

Perhaps you Clintonites will come to your senses eventually, but if not, then BU'BYE, and don't let the screen door hit you in the ass on your way out.

[burnt]

"John Edwards said that he would not make an endorsement until the race was over..."

Yes, it is over. Anybody with a half-grasp on reality knows it. Only the deluded remain in their DenialDream. I believe your conclusion that John Edwards stepped up because he knew beyond any doubt that it was over is correct.

HOWEVER... In case there are a few others who made similar statement... Anyone who made a promise that was even remotely similar, should not consider themselves bound. I don't believe anyone could have known the extent Clinton was willing to go to divide and damage the Democratic Party in this fit of jealous rage that she is in. Had that been known, I doubt any sane Democrat would have obliged her.

In any case... THANK YOU JOHN EDWARDS!!! Please encourage others within your political sphere to do the same.

alienated in Seattle