Edwards' nod may help pull blue-collar vote to Obama

John Edwards didn't endorse when he pulled out of the presidential race in January. Or before the crucial Super Tuesday primaries. Or before voters in his home state of North Carolina went to the polls last week.

But the former North Carolina senator on Wednesday endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, saying the party must unite for "the fight of our lives."

"There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership," said Edwards, standing next to Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. "That man is Barack Obama."

Edwards' endorsement came hours after abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America deserted New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton after years of support to endorse Obama as well.

The endorsements suggest that despite Clinton's big victory Tuesday in West Virginia and her determination to keep fighting for the nomination, important parts of the Democratic Party are jumping aboard the Obama bandwagon before they're left behind.

Clinton vowed to stay in the race. "We respect John Edwards," said her campaign chairman, Terry McAuliffe. "But as the voters of West Virginia showed ... this is far from over."

Edwards could help Obama among white working-class people who, in some states, have shown some reluctance to back Obama. An important part of Edwards' appeal was his up-from-the-mill-village campaign story, and his promise to help working people.

"It may help Obama win back some of the demographic blocs where he has been unable to improve his numbers: rural working-class white voters," said Peter Francia, a political-science professor at East Carolina University.

Edwards' timing puzzled some analysts and political strategists. But it came a day after Clinton won a convincing victory in West Virginia's primary, a win she hoped would revive her increasingly longshot bid.

The announcement also overshadowed interviews Clinton had done with television networks that focused on her 41-point victory Tuesday.

On CNN, Clinton said she agreed with one of her close friends and supporters, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who said her use of the term "hard-working Americans, white Americans" to describe a key demographic rallying to her side was the "dumbest thing" she could have said.

Only five primaries remain, with the last June 3. Edwards had controlled 19 pledged delegates, who are now free to vote for whomever they please.

Clinching the nomination takes 2,026 delegates, and Obama is closing in. As of Wednesday, Obama had 1,887 delegates to Clinton's 1,718, according to the latest tally by The Associated Press.

"I think it's important for the Democratic Party to bring it to a close," said U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a key Obama leader in North Carolina.

"Sen. Edwards' endorsement should reinforce our assessment that the math is not on Sen. Clinton's side."

Although the timing of the endorsement was a surprise, Edwards over the weekend had said Obama had all but wrapped up the nomination.

Many of Edwards' key supporters in North Carolina, as elsewhere, had backed Obama, seeing him as a kindred spirit to Edwards in running outsider campaigns. Both men had portrayed Clinton as a Washington insider tied to special interests and insufficiently opposed to continued U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Clinton and Obama had courted Edwards, each visiting his sprawling home outside Chapel Hill. Obama shot hoops with Edwards on his indoor basketball court. But Edwards had played down an endorsement, saying he doubted endorsements made much of a difference.

Until now, Edwards' public comments have been carefully divided between the two candidates.

His wife, Elizabeth Edwards, had said she preferred Clinton's health-care plan. She was not with her husband in Michigan when he made his announcement.

Edwards praised Clinton on Wednesday, calling her "a woman who is made of steel."

"She is a leader in this country, not because of her husband, but because of what she has done," he said.

As the campaign proceeds, aides to both men said, Edwards is sure to be included on a short list of vice presidential prospects. But Edwards, the 2004 vice-presidential nominee, has said he is not interested.

Edwards also has played down his aspirations for an administration role. In January, he said he would not accept a vice-presidential post or Cabinet position. "No, absolutely not," he said. But privately, he told aides he would consider the role of vice president and favored the position of attorney general.

During the campaign, Edwards had at times criticized Obama for voting absent 100 times while serving in the Illinois Legislature and for taking money from political-action committees. He once said Obama's call for "hope" is not enough and that Obama has not been around long enough to have much of a political track record.

But Wednesday, Edwards and Obama exchanged only kind words. Edwards said Obama "stands with me" to try to cut poverty in half within 10 years.

Meanwhile, explaining her group's backing of Obama, Nancy Keenan, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said she thinks Obama will be nominated and that his differences with Republican John McCain on abortion rights and the selection of judicial nominees "will be a major reason many voters, especially abortion-rights independent and Republican women, will cross party lines to support Sen. Obama in the fall."

Material from McClatchy Newspapers and The New York Times is included in this report.