I'm calling it--John Edwards will endorse Clinton on Jay Leno Thursday.

[geek tragedy]

The Clinton folks are masters at creating media buzz through surprise events. This will be another one of those surprise events.

I've said all along that Edwards, when you get beyond campaign rhetoric, is a lot more like Clinton than he is like Obama. And I'll be proved right on Thursday.

Questions for former Edwards supporters who are now supporting Obama or neutral:

1. Will this cause you to switch to Clinton or weaken your possible support for Obama; and

2. Will this be a surprise for you, or will it change the way you see John Edwards?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. At this point that would be kind of like endorsing Mike Gravel.

[geek tragedy]

2. The theory will be that she'll win BIG in PA, and

that he'll help swing KY and WV and NC to her side.

Then he's the kingmaker. That, and he's never really respected Obama as a person like he does Clinton.

[NJSecularist]

5. John Edwards endorsement isn't swinging a state one way or another

He has won one state in 8 years!!!!!!!

He doesn't have the kind of swing or potential impact that some people think he does.

Only the loyal Edheads will care.

[loveangelc]

33. she won't win nc. she was going to win wv and ky anyway.

[truebrit71]

3. There is no way that John Edwards - the candidate - endorses HRC the corporatist...

...just ain't gonna happen...

[geek tragedy]

6. What will you say when he does?

John Edwards the candidate and John Edwards the Senator were two different people, remember.

[truebrit71]

27. I will say that he is a sell out and will not listen to another word that escapes his lips.

.

[sonias]

31. I'm with you on that call

Ain't going to happen.

Sonia

[IDemo]

4. It would be a big disappointment

But I would respect his decision, it just would not make me change my support for Obama.

[txaslftist]

7. Based on what are you calling it?

I don't pretend to have any information one way or another, but why are you calling Edwards for Clinton?

[geek tragedy]

9. All of the behind the scenes buzz is that he's endorsing Clinton.

He's appearing on Jay Leno on Thursday. It's pretty obvious.

[txaslftist]

15. I'm not hearing the buzz, I guess, but things move pretty quick...

I know Kerry endorsed Obama, so did Edwards' main political advisor...

As for Edwards appearing on Leno, that could mean anything.

[myrna minx]

34. All of the "behind the scene buzz" is just wild speculation.

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=edwards+clinton+endorsement&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wn

No one, with the exception of the Edwards' know who, if anyone, Senator Edwards will endorse.

If it is based upon the second hand proxy of Mark Halperin on the Chris Matthews Show this past weekend, I highly doubt Senator Edwards would give Mr. Halprian and exclusive considering Mr. Halprian got into trouble for puting words in the mouth of Senator Edwards in the past.

Will he or won't he endorse Senator Clinton? We don't know.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/edwards-endorsement-of-c_b_91980.html

Edwards' Endorsement Of Clinton Imminent?

By Chris Weigant

On this week's Chris Matthews Show, Richard Stengel of Time magazine made a prediction in the "Tell me something I don't know" segment of the program:

John Edwards. Senator John Edwards -- remember him? -- who's been conspicuously silent since he dropped out of the race, will endorse a Democratic candidate probably before North Carolina, certainly before North Carolina, possible before Pennsylvania. And our own Mark Halpern on the page says it's going to be Senator Hillary Clinton.

The transcript needed some quote marks or capitalization, since Stengel was referring to "The Page" on the Time website, written by Mark Halperin. Now, some may take this with a grain of salt, since Halperin has already gotten in some trouble over characterizing what John Edwards is thinking. But for the sake of discussion, let's take Stengel at his word, and assume his (or Halperin's) prediction is accurate.

If John Edwards openly endorses Hillary Clinton, what could it mean to the nomination race? For starters, it would surprise a lot of Edwards supporters. Most of the unions backing Edwards have moved into the Obama camp, and they may be disappointed by Edwards going the other direction. However, one of Edwards' core constituencies of support was among white men -- who are now firmly in the Clinton camp (if exit polls are to be believed). So while either endorsement from Edwards is going to please some of his supporters and annoy some others, it's not outside the bounds of possibility that he would back Hillary, and influence voters as a result.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. Unless he can give her a whole bunch of delegates....

Its not going to matter either way.

[geek tragedy]

11. Can he give her North Carolina? n/t

[libnnc]

14. Not if both Dem gubernatorial candidates endorse Obama

And they are. Both Bev Perdue and Richard Moore are endorsing Barack Obama.

If Edwards was going to endorse Clinton, he would have already done it by now.

[Independent-Voter]

18. Edwards wouldn't even get re-elected in NC. He's not exactly liked here in NC

[better tomorrow]

10. and if that doesn't happen he will endorse Obama on

Saturday Night Live the weekend before Pennsylvania....

[zonkers]

Leno? Why on earth would you think this? Plain silly.

[geek tragedy]

17. Why else would he step back into the spotlight

except to endorse?

[Reader Rabbit]

22. Um...maybe to promote *this*?

Edwards backs Iraq-Recession Campaign

[zulchzulu]

12. What a sad ending to that campaign that would be

Edwards' message during the campaign was directly to the opposite of Hillary Clinton's. For him to endorse her would make for an odd bookend to his run for President this year.

I also doubt it would do much for Edwards supporters...

[olkaz]

13. I won't be switching.

John's his own man, and he'll do what he thinks is best, just like he expects us to do.

If he endorses Clinton, that's fine. It's too late to really make much of a difference.

With that said, I think he endorses Obama.

[ajamo]

24. John Edwards

Will back Obama, my guess, also my pick.

[SoCalDem]

16. Probably most people will tune in & say

"who's that guy"?..and someone will say.."Oh, it's the guy with the $400 haircut..who used to be running for president"..

most of his pledged delegates are already re-assigned to HRC and BHO..

He had his chance to make his endorsement meaningful.... that was a while back..

[txaslftist]

19. I just did a lot of googling...

... and the majority of predictions I find out there have Edwards endorsing whomever gets the nomination, and not until. Of the remainder, most have Edwards endorsing Obama based on a secret meeting in early February, but after a couple of weeks the speculation seems to have died down. I didn't find any predictions of Edwards endorsing Clinton.

I suspect the Leno spot is either to just sort of tell the world what's going on or to announce that he's going from "suspending" his campaign to "ending" it.

[geek tragedy]

20. Time Mag's editor said that they were sitting on a scoop

that he would endorse Clinton before NC and maybe before PA.

The timing makes perfect sense, given his appearance on Leno.

[txaslftist]

23. Well, I'd be disappointed if he does that. It would show lack of judgment.

[Zodiak]

21. I was an Edwards supporter

I liked him for his rhetoric, but was fully aware that his Senatorial history does not reflect his rhetoric. He was a proponent of the status quo when he was in.

If he endorses Clinton, he will not move my position one bit. All he will do is show me that he is still DLC and we were lucky to dodge the bullet of putting too much hope in him based on his rhetoric alone.

And it will be profoundly sad because our party needs more populists, not just those willing to pander to populism only to drop it in favor of politics as usual.

[VolcanoJen]

26. Nice post, Zodiac.

:thumbsup:

That being said, I just can't imagine Edwards endorsing Clinton, regardless of Mark Halperin and his breathless gossip.

I can't even fathom it.

[myrna minx]

35. Thank you. Why would Halperin receive an exclusive from Edwards, when

he got into trouble for putting words in his mouth in the past?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-weigant/edwards-endorsement-of-c_b_91980.html

Will Senator Edwards endorse Senator Clinton? Maybe. I have no idea, but I highly doubt the scoop would be given to Halperin.

[krawhitham]

25. If he endorses her after everything he said about her, he is done politically

UNLESS she promised him VP


Edwards: bought by the highest bidder

[geek tragedy]

28. Well,

he's kinda done anyways.

[stillcool]

29. I would not be surprised...

one way or the other. Regardless of who he supports he has his own reasons for doing so.

[geek tragedy]

30. Yep, as in

who was the highest bidder.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

32. I'd certainly be disappointed if Edwards sold out his core beliefs and endorsed Hillary, but . . .

it wouldn't mean much coming at this late date. Obama already has it in the bag, especially with his terrific speech today calling for racial unity.