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Edwards backs Obama's bid
15/05/2008 07:25 - (SA)
Grand Rapids - Former US presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday, giving a major boost to the Illinois senator's effort to unify the party behind his bid for the White House.
Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, had been
heavily courted by both Obama and rival Hillary Clinton.
"The reason I am here tonight is the Democratic voters in
America have made their choice and so have I," Edwards, who
dropped out of this year's Democratic race in January, said at a rally with Obama in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to
create one America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama," he
said, as Obama sat on a stool behind him.
The long-awaited endorsement helped blunt the impact of
Clinton's landslide 41-point win over Obama in West Virginia on
Tuesday. That result barely put a dent in Obama's lead in the
Democratic race for the right to face Republican John McCain in
November's presidential election.
Obama has an almost unassailable advantage in delegates who
will pick the nominee at the party's convention in August, and
has turned his attention to a general election match-up with
McCain for the past week.
"I have no doubt that John Edwards can be extremely helpful
to us campaigning in every demographic," Obama told reporters
on his plane, adding that he hoped to get Edwards' delegates,
estimated to number about 18, as well.
He said Edwards would "be on anybody's short list" for the
vice presidency but said further comment would be premature.
Obama gained the support of four more superdelegates -
party officials free to back any candidate - as well as the
abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America on Wednesday.
'Far from over'
Edwards praised Clinton's "strength and character" but said
it was time for Democrats to unite against McCain. He called
Obama on Tuesday night to tell him he was ready to make the
endorsement, an Obama aide said.
The backing of Edwards could help Obama attract white
working-class voters who have flocked to Clinton in recent
contests. The former North Carolina senator made a populist
economic agenda on behalf of lower and middle income workers a
centrepiece of his presidential bid, and has focused heavily on
efforts to battle poverty.
Obama, who would be the first black US president, won the
votes of fewer than one-quarter of whites without college
degrees in West Virginia, exit polls showed, similar to his
showing in other states.
Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who has cancer and is a
well-known political figure, did not accompany Edwards to the
Obama rally. She has not endorsed either candidate.
Clinton's campaign shrugged off the endorsement.
"We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West
Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over," her
campaign chairperson, Terry McAuliffe, said in a statement.
The New York senator spent Wednesday in Washington doing
media interviews and meeting with donors. She promised to keep
running until the last of the five remaining state contests
concludes on June 3.
"We don't have a nominee yet and until we do, I'm going to
be making my case," she said on Fox News.
Clinton's campaign in debt
Clinton's campaign is $20m in debt but McAuliffe
said she had the resources to compete with Obama and described
her donors as "very excited, ready to go and ready to help".
Clinton added one superdelegate endorsement on Wednesday.
A delegate count by MSNBC gives Obama 1 885 delegates to
Clinton's 1 722 - both short of the 2 025 needed to clinch the nomination. To win, both need superdelegates, with whom Obama has been gaining ground for weeks.
He also picked up the backing of three former chairpersons of
the Securities and Exchange Commission, including William
Donaldson, who was appointed by Republican President George W
Bush.
Obama spent the day in Michigan, where he touted plans for
a $150bn clean technologies fund to create new jobs and
promote fuel-efficient vehicles. Focusing on November's contest
with McCain, Obama said the Arizona senator "is not offering
new solutions or economic policies that are different from what
George Bush has given us for eight long years".
Obama's visit to Michigan was his first since he signed a
pledge last year promising not to campaign in the state because
of its dispute with the national party over the timing of its
primary election.
Clinton won in Michigan and Obama's name was not on the
ballot. She also won a disputed race in Florida and is pushing
for delegates from both states to be seated at the convention.
Five more contests remain in the Democratic nominating
battle, with a combined 189 delegates at stake. Oregon and
Kentucky vote on May 20, Puerto Rico on June 1, and Montana and
South Dakota on June 3.
- Reuters
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