An up front caveat - I am rather new to politics and therefore don't really have a clue, hence my posting this diary.
The quesiton -- What's the impact on Obama's campaign if Edwards endorses Clinton?
Let's leave aside whether it will happen or not. What happens if it does?
Chris Weigant of HuffPost posted a column with his thoughts. I'd love to hear yours. Read on...
If that does indeed happen, it likely wouldn't be enough to let Hillary catch up in pledged delegates before the convention, so even if she won in these three states (with her expected victory in Pennsylvania), Barack Obama will likely still lead in pledged delegates when the Democratic Convention begins. But psychologically, it would be a huge victory for Clinton, and a huge defeat for Obama, for several reasons.
Obama has done exceptionally well in the South so far, winning six states (AL, GA, LA, MS, SC, VA) to Clinton's two (AR and TN). Winning three more states would even things up for Hillary, especially if she also re-wins in Florida. The other big reason this would be a big loss for Obama is bigness. If Hillary wins Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Florida -- and also North Carolina -- then she will have swept all the "big" states except Illinois, Obama's home state. This would greatly bolster her argument for how electable she is in the general election. And no matter how the remaining states vote, this argument -- made to the superdelegates -- may be what decides the nomination.
Personally, I'm of the mind that this endorsement will come too late, too little to make an impact -- I think Chris may be overstating it above. Then again, I am a neophyte at this.
Please, please, let's keep this clean and the infighting out - I'd truly love to hear some good solid analysis and thoughts about the potential scenario of Edwards endorsing Clinton from you in addition to Chris' above.
Thanks!
Ray