Barack Obama's campaign confirmed today that John Edwards will endorse him tonight in Grand Rapids, Mich.
That Edwards ended up behind Obama isn't much of a surprise. Most of Edwards' campaign staffers had already drifted into Obama's camp.
The curious thing about the endorsement is -- everything about the endorsement.
First, why would Edwards choose to endorse today, more than a week after the primary in his home state of North Carolina? I'm not usually one to think that an endorsement will win a candidate a flood of votes, but it could have made a difference for Obama in Indiana, where Obama lost to Hillary Clinton last Tuesday by just two points. And his much-ballyhooed "trouble with white guys" might have been assuaged a bit by an endorsement from, say, a white guy.
Conventional wisdom held that Edwards was keeping his powder dry to maximize his opportunity, whatever it might be, to broker the peace between Obama and Clinton, either before or during the convention. At the least, Edwards was expected to use his influence as leverage for his signature issue: Ending poverty in America.
As it is, It's too late to help Obama in Pennsylvania or Indiana, and it's too early to make much of a difference at the convention. But Obama has made strides in the last week with superdelegates, and just about every pundit who is converting oxygen to carbon dioxide has declared the race to be over. Maybe Edwards just didn't want to be left out.
And why Michigan? Michigan isn't gearing up for a second primary, and its legislators and party leaders have already agreed on a plan that, if approved on May 31, will pave the way for its delegates to be seated at the convention.
I don't understand anything about the way this decision is being delivered. Maybe they'll shed some light on it as they take the stage now.
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