I haven't yet had a chance to read any blogs today (yes America, it is possible to oversleep a 3:30 appointment. Don't ask.), so no doubt this is a point that has already been made elsewhere, but....
The reason the endorsement of Barack Obama by John Edwards matters can be summed up in two words: Michigan. Florida.
The only justification left for the Clinton campaign, beyond the symbolic I'm going to keep fighting no matter what, is the status of Florida and Michigan. If the Democratic Party were to lose its mind and change at the end of the game to change the outcome, its possible that Clinton could make at least a somewhat plausible claim to the nomination. It would be insane, but that doesn't mean it is impossible. Until now.
When Edwards first got out of the race, I suggested that the main reason his endorsement mattered was because of the debate over Michigan and Florida. If Obama could get his official endorsement, he would have an almost unshakable claim to Edwards' share of the support in those states. In Florida, that would mean an almost perfect 50/50 delegate split with Clinton, and in Michigan it would mean a 45/55 split. So that fight Clinton was spoiling for as a way of upsetting the race? With Edwards' endorsement of Obama, it would no longer matter.
And that's why today's news is such a big deal, and why the endorsement itself was made in the state of Michigan.
If Clinton hadn't accepted that it was over before now, well...
UPDATE: And oh yeah.... NARAL endorsed Obama today, too.
UPDATE II: The Caucus reminds me to reiterate: John Edwards would make a fabulous Attorney General.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
