Edwards' Endorsement Is No Game-Changer

Move was inevitable, says Newsweek analyst

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 15, 2008 9:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – John Edwards’ endorsement of Barack Obama may “hammer another nail into Clinton’s subterranean coffin,” but it won’t do much to sway primary voters, Andrew Romano writes in Newsweek. Had Edwards taken a pro-Obama stand a few months ago, it might have helped the senator with blue-collar voters. But at this point, the endorsement was inevitable: “Edwards is a Democrat. Obama's the Democratic nominee. It had to happen eventually.”

Edwards will likely score working-class voters for Obama in the general election—but he was going to do that anyway, Romano writes. Whether he made his endorsement last night or in two weeks was irrelevant. As Clinton fights ever-harder, “far from changing any minds—other than those of a few fence-sitting superdelegates, perhaps—[the] Edwards endorsement will merely reinforce the existing contours of the contest,” Romano says.

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, and former Democratic presidential hopeful, John Edwards, wave to the crowd Wednesday, May 14, 2008 in Grand Rapids, Mich. after Edwards... (AP Photo)

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., addresses supporters during her West Virginia Primary night rally Tuesday, May 13, 2008, in Charleston, W.Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., right, is joined by former Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., Wednesday, May 14, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

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Edwards' Endorsement Is No Game-Changer