What the Edwards endorsement means

by Don Wheeler

Not all that much, John Edwards has said over the past few weeks. I tend to agree. But Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times seems to disagree. He begins his story:

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — John Edwards gave his long-awaited endorsement to Senator Barack Obama on Wednesday, bolstering Mr. Obama’s efforts to rally the Democratic Party around his candidacy and offering potential help in his efforts to win over working class white voters in the general election.

“The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I,” Mr. Edwards told a roaring crowd of more than 12,000 people here in the Van Andel Arena, on a day when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to capitalize on her victory on Tuesday in West Virginia and convince superdelegates and contributors that she still has a chance to capture the Democratic nomination.

“There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America — not two — and that man is Barack Obama,” Mr. Edwards said at an event that resembled the closing night of a party convention, with the two men standing arm in arm and waving as the crowd chanted “Yes we can!”

Here's the area where he thinks Edwards will help.

His endorsement came after victories by Mrs. Clinton in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and other states with large working class populations indicated potential weaknesses along racial and class divides — weaknesses that Mrs. Clinton has tried to exploit to convince superdelegates, contributors and voters in the remaining contests that she has a better chance to beat Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, in the fall.

Mr. Edwards could potentially help Mr. Obama with that group. A Southerner, he had directed his candidacy at the same white and working class voters Mr. Obama is trying to woo.......

...His endorsement went on to be as much about Mr. Obama as it was a populist cry for universal health care, ending poverty, better schools and an end to the war in Iraq. But the drama and excitement of the moment was reserved for Mr. Obama, with Mr. Edwards’s endorsement meant to send a sharp and clear signal that the long race is nearly over.

The theory seems to be that since many working class folks identified with Edwards, his nod of approval will shift these folks to Obama's camp. I'm a tad skeptical.

If Barack Obama wants to win the support of these folks, he's going to have to do it the Smith-Barney way (per John Houseman): he'll have to "ehrrn it!". So far it doesn't appear that he wants to go to the trouble.

In fact, yesterday in Michigan, he managed to pull off a rare double-dis in a single event. He not only failed to even address concerns of the United Auto workers who there, being supportive and a bit expectant - when asked about that omission by Peggy Agar, a local channel 7 reporter - he replied "Hold on, Sweetie.." and laughed. And never answered the question.

John Edwards brought the crowd to its feet in the 2007 winter meeting of the DNC when he said "The time is past for half measures, broken promises, sweet rhetoric...."

This situation reminds me of a scene in the movie "The Big Easy" in which the actress playing the mother of the Dennis Quaid character turns to Elen Barkin and says "You think you're gonna straighten out my boy?". The Ellen Barkin character says somewhat nervously "Yes, I think its possible". The former chuckles loudly and says "You got your work cut out for you Cher."

Best of luck, John.