GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Sen. Barack Obama’s delegate lead could swell even more as former rival endorsed the Illinois Democrat on Wednesday, a move designed to help solidify support for the party’s likely presidential nominee even as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.
The endorsement came a day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in the West Virginia primary, an outcome that highlighted Obama’s challenge in winning over “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 at a rally of several thousand supporters, 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, a claim Obama confirmed moments later, saying that in America, he said, “you should never be homeless, you should never be hungry.”
Edwards also praised Clinton, saying “we are a stronger party” because of her involvement, and “we’re going to have a stronger nominee in the fall because of her work. … She is a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done.”
Clinton on Wednesday vowed to remain in the presidential race until the last primaries June 3, but she hinted that the protracted contest with Obama would end shortly thereafter. “You don’t walk off the court before the buzzer sounds,” Clinton said on CNN. “You never know, you might get a three-point shot at the end.”
Edwards had been heavily courted by Obama and Clinton after he quit the race three months ago. Friends said the agreement did not come together until a call Obama placed to him Tuesday night.
Edwards appeared more in tune with Obama and his message of change during the early primaries, and he was more often critical of Clinton, whom he considered too closely aligned with interest-group politics and the established ways of Washington. At the same time, friends said, Edwards thought Clinton was more ready to be president.
Edwards has 19 pledged delegates, won Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Most of them have already been selected, and are technically free to support whomever they choose at the party’s national convention, regardless of Edwards’ endorsement.
Obama picked up 4.5 more superdelegates on Wednesday, and garnered the endorsement of a leading abortion-rights, NARAL Pro-Choice America.
Democratic delegate count
Sen. Barack Obama: 1, 887
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: 1,718
John Edwards: 19
Needed to nominate: 2,026
Associated Press
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