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Edwards endorses Obama in US race | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has been endorsed by his former rival John Edwards. | |
Mr Edwards, who was John Kerry's running-mate in the 2004 presidential race, had been one of the few senior Democrats yet to endorse a candidate. | |
Correspondents say his endorsement will damage Mr Obama's one remaining rival, Senator Hillary Clinton. | Correspondents say his endorsement will damage Mr Obama's one remaining rival, Senator Hillary Clinton. |
The announcement comes a day after Mrs Clinton won the party's primary in West Virginia by a wide margin. | |
Mr Edwards made his endorsement in a speech alongside the Illinois senator at a rally in Michigan, although he also praised Mrs Clinton. | |
A former North Carolina senator, Mr Edwards dropped out of the presidential race in late January. | |
Immediately afterwards both Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama actively sought his influential endorsement. | |
'Tricky case' | 'Tricky case' |
So far in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr Obama has won more of the delegates who will choose the party's nominee at the Democratic National Convention this summer. | So far in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, Mr Obama has won more of the delegates who will choose the party's nominee at the Democratic National Convention this summer. |
He has also raised more money than Mrs Clinton. | He has also raised more money than Mrs Clinton. |
The Clinton campaign has been hoping that she could pick up more endorsements than Mr Obama from the so-called "super-delegates", who get an automatic vote at the convention by virtue of holding a senior position in the party. | The Clinton campaign has been hoping that she could pick up more endorsements than Mr Obama from the so-called "super-delegates", who get an automatic vote at the convention by virtue of holding a senior position in the party. |
The BBC's Justin Webb says that with Mr Edwards's high-profile endorsement, Mrs Clinton's already difficult case has just become even trickier to make. | The BBC's Justin Webb says that with Mr Edwards's high-profile endorsement, Mrs Clinton's already difficult case has just become even trickier to make. |
According to a tally by the Associated Press, Barack Obama has a total of 1,887 delegates, leaving him just 139 delegates short of the 2,026 needed to clinch the nomination, while Hillary Clinton has 1,718 delegates. |