John Edwards endorsar Obama

John Edwards, som drog sig ur det Demokratiska racet för flera månader sedan - har länge låtit bli att ge sitt stöd till någondera kandidat, trots uppvaktning från både Clinton och Obama. Nu offentliggör han dock sin åsikt och endorsar Obama. Något som måste ses som ett plus för Obama, men kanske som ett ännu större minus för Clinton. John Edwards är trots allt en centralgestalt inom det Demokratiska partiet, och förra valets running-mate till John Kerry (som också sedan länge endorsat Obama).

Extra farligt skulle det kunna bli om Obama väljer (och Edwards låter sig väljas) till running-mate, dvs vice-presidentkandidat. Det skulle i så fall för Obamas del kunna vara precis det dragplåster han behöver för att kunna locka vita-arbetaramerikaner, som Hillary hittills nästan haft patent på. Edwards däremot, drar också sådana väljare - vilket skulle kunna göra stor nytta för Obama - och även utgöra ett stort hot mot McCain. Men detta är ännu bara spekulationer från min sida, vi får se vad som händer.

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Yahoo News rapporterar:

Edwards gives long-awaited endorsement to Obama

By CHUCK BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer 12 minutes ago

Democrat John Edwards is endorsing former rival Barack Obama, fresh signs of the party establishment embracing the likely nominee even as Hillary Rodham Clinton refuses to give up her long-shot candidacy.

Edwards was to appear with Obama in Grand Rapids, Mich., as Obama campaigns in a critical general election battleground state.

The endorsement comes the day after Clinton defeated Obama by more than 2-to-1 in West Virginia. The loss highlighted Obama's work to win over the "Hillary Democrats" — white, working-class voters who also supported Edwards in large numbers before he exited the race.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and the 2004 vice presidential nominee, dropped out of the race in late January.

Both Obama and Clinton immediately asked Edwards for his endorsement, but he stayed mum for more than four months. 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' poverty initiative, which was a major cause for Edwards in his campaign and since he left.

When he made his decision, Edwards didn't even tell many of his former top advisers because he wanted to make sure that he personally talked to Clinton to give her the news, said the person close to him. Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, who has spoken favorably about Clinton's health care plan, did not travel with him to Michigan and is not part of the endorsement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080514/ap_on_el_pr/obama_edwards
2008-05-14