When it comes to the pending endorsement of either Senator Clinton or Obama by John Edwards, the opinions vary as to whether such endorsement carries any weight or importance, or if Edwards is now a "party elder" of sorts expected to mediate should the election end up in the (un)welcoming hands of the supers.
Here I provide points that evidence that Edwards will at some point endorse Obama:
- Edward's insistence during debates that only he and Obama are the "candidates of change", exiling Senator Clinton to the "status quo" camp
- Clinton hit Edwards with robocalls during the SC primary.
- Obama has been the beneficiary of most of the recent union support. Edwards is the "union guy", this must carry some weight.
- The timing of Edwards exit: Upon further examination (and I should dedicate another diary at a later time to present this in detail), had Edwards remained in the race, Obama stood to lose the most. Obama would not have picked up as many delegates as he did, he would've also lost a couple of states.
Biggest example would be Missouri, where at the time of Edwards announcement to suspend his campaign, Rasmussen had C:47 E: 11 O:38. Obama won MO 49% to Clinton's 48%
So, there. I find many reasons for Edwards to back Obama and not many to back Clinton (aside from a VP spot that is more likely with Hillary than Obama).
Of course, this would all be great and rosy if I didn't have my suspicions that money was the biggest reason Edwards dropped out when he did, and not to help Obama. According to the FEC filing for January, Edwards campaign had $7,057,830.40 cash on hand at the end of Jan 08. Debts and obligations owed by the campaign at the end of said period: $9,072,928.80
So, may be Edwards will not endorse Obama after all. The mystery continues.