Edwards backs Obama

Though praising Clinton, he urges Democrats to unite

By JOHN O’CONNOR - joconnor@thestate.com

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama on Wednesday, a move designed to help solidify support for the party’s likely presidential nominee even as Hillary Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.

Edwards, a South Carolina native and former U.S. Senator from North Carolina, lent his support — and possibly the valuable delegates he earned in S.C. and elsewhere — to Obama.

Edwards won 18 delegates in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Nearly half of those delegates — eight — were earned here when Edwards finished third in the January primary won by Obama.

If those delegates also choose Obama, it would erase the delegates Clinton earned by trouncing Obama in West Virginia this week. Clinton, who beat Obama 3-to-1 in West Virginia, snared 20 delegates to Obama’s 8.

An Edwards endorsement also might help Obama with the working-class white voters he’s had trouble connecting with in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, all losses to Clinton.

“(Edwards) is a very effective bridge in helping Senator Obama reach out to all the people he needed to reach out to,” said John Moylan, a Columbia attorney who served as Edwards’ top S.C. adviser.

Moylan spoke to Edwards on Wednesday before he appeared with Obama.

“I think he believes ... the numbers and the math make it virtually impossible” for Clinton to win, Moylan said.

Columbia mayor Bob Coble said he was glad Edwards chose to announce an endorsement. Edwards said he respected both candidates prior to January’s S.C. Democratic primary, Coble said, but Coble believed Obama more closely matched Edwards’ goals.

“I think (Edwards’) voice needs to be heard,” Coble said. “He speaks to those working class families who so desperately need change.”

Barnwell resident Tim Moore is an Edwards delegate to the Democratic presidential convention. Moore, who is free to commit his delegate to whomever he chooses, said Wednesday he was uncommitted.

“My daddy and granddaddy told me not to do anything I hadn’t slept on for a night,” Moore said.

Edwards made the endorsement in a surprise appearance with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as the Illinois senator campaigned in a critical general election battleground state where he had not campaigned earlier.

Edwards received a thunderous ovation when Obama introduced him to an estimated crowd of 12,500. Addressing them as “brothers and sisters,” he said they “must come together as Democrats” to defeat Republican nominee-in-waiting John 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 end poverty, curb the power of Washington lobbyists, create universal health care and restore the nation's reputation globally. He said Obama could achieve those goals as a man of “bold leadership.”

Edwards also praised Hillary Clinton as "made of steel," and described her as "a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done." He said her campaigning had made Obama a stronger candidate for the fall campaign.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said in a statement, “We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over.”

Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, finished second to Obama in the Iowa caucus in early January before coming in third in the following three contests. He dropped out in New Orleans, the location a reminder of his attention to poverty.

Both Obama and Clinton immediately asked Edwards for his endorsement, but he stayed mum. His endorsement would have carried far more clout had he made it in February, when the Obama-Clinton outcome was very much in doubt.

A person close to Edwards, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he wanted to get involved now to begin unifying the party. Obama also signed on to Edwards’ anti-poverty initiative.

Edwards did not tell many of his former top advisers of his decision because he wanted to inform Clinton personally, said the person close to him. Edwards’ wife, Elizabeth, who has said she favors Clinton’s health care plan, did not travel with him to Michigan and is not part of the endorsement.

David “Mudcat” Saunders, a chief adviser for Edwards on rural affairs during his presidential campaign, said the endorsement should take some sting out of Obama’s loss in West Virginia.

“For Barack Obama, I think he ought to kiss Johnny Edwards on the lips to kill this 41-point loss,” Saunders said.

The Associated Press and McClatchy Newspapers contributed to this report. Reach O’Connor at (803) 771-8358.