John Edwards endorses Obama, tries to put Clinton out of race for good
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Barack Obama secured the long sought-after endorsement of former rival John Edwards, moving to solidifying Democratic Party' support for his likely presidential nomination as Hillary Clinton refused to abandon her long-shot candidacy.
Edwards' endorsement on Wednesday deals a sharp blow to Clinton, a day after she sought to convince top Democrats that her 2-1 victory over Obama in West Virginia the day before on the strength of working-class voters was evidence that her campaign still had signs of life despite Obama's largely insurmountable delegate lead.
Edwards, who had based much of his candidacy on supporting the working-class voters that Clinton has been capturing and Obama hopes to woo, made a surprise appearance with the Democratic front-runner in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a critical general election battleground state.
Obama has shrugged off his largely symbolic loss in West Virginia to the former first lady, and turned his attention to a general election matchup against Republican John McCain.
Edwards said Obama "stands with me" in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years. Obama devoted his speech to one of his guest's favorite topic, fighting poverty. In America, he said, "you should never be homeless, you should never be hungry."