Does John Edwards’ endorsement matter?
Obama’s last standing rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, has said that Obama’s weakness among blue-collar workers may cripple his effort in the fall. While the value of any endorsement is debatable and intangible, both Obama and Clinton had aggressively sought support from John Edwards. John and wife Elizabeth Edwards appeared conflicted as to which candidate to endorse as recently as last week. Yesterday, he praised the former First Lady before formally supporting Barack Obama. The positive media coverage from this comes as a huge boost to Obama – the endorsement, as the Illinois Senator has made his custom with key backers – comes one day after a damaging loss in the West Virginia primary – but after the May 6 win by Obama in Edwards’ home state of North Carolina, his victory over Clinton was almost assured. Edwards is a Democrat who, despite finishing a distant third in this race, is still held in high esteem by most people in the party. Obama is a Democrat on the cusp of clinching the De
