John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., after spending considerable time repeating his old stump speech and praising fellow candidate Hillary Clinton.  In the end, he said, it came down to who can turn two Americas into one.  He said the American people have made their choice and now he has also. 

Edwards recently voted in his home state primary in North Carolina, which Obama won. He  releases his 19 pledged delegates that he won before getting out of the nomination race  on Jan. 30; he won no states. Both Obama and Hillary Clinton had sought Edwards' endorsement.  Edwards said he talked to Clinton about health care and jobs. Her health care plan is closer to his own and his wife Elizabeth favors Clinton's plan.  While he said Cliton has "strength and tenacity" he selected Obama as the candidate who can tear down the walls and close the divide between the two Americas (the haves and have-nots).

What Edwards said was not as important as the timing of his endorsement, coming on the heels of Clinton's big win in West Virginia, where she showed Obama's vulnerability among white, rural, older and low-income voters.  Edwards might be able to provide Obama entree to working class voters who supported him.  His endorsement also suggests he thinks the she should get out of the race and the party should begin to unify.   

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