Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, a one-time rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, made a surprise appearance at a Obama for president campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan (which we visited two years ago), and endorsed Obama. Edwards may help Obama a little with rural and working-class white voters, and Obama needs to make up for lost ground as he has shunned campaigning until now in Michigan and Florida, with their illegally early primary elections. But I still don't completely understand why Obama has barely campaigned for the West Virginia and Kentucky primaries. Sure, these are both Southern states that haven't gone for a Democratic presidential candidate in 10 years plus. But West Virginia has two Democratic U.S. senators and a Democratic governor and Senator Clinton isn't entirely wrong - The Republicans were able to steal the 2000 presidential election - in Florida - because Vice President Gore had already lost West Virginia, a state he and Bill Clinton carried in 1992 and 1996. If Gore had won West Virginia, he wouldn't have needed Florida. And Kentucky actually elected a Democratic governor by over 20 percentage points just six months ago (though how much difference six months can make, as Governor Beshear looks less formidable now).
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As soon as she heard about the endorsement, Stephanie wondered if Obama and Edwards will run together. Tonight I found Obama-Edwards ticket T-shirts on sale on the Internet already. Certainly, in the picture above, they look like they could be running mates. Interestingly, some of the year-old speculation I found on the Internet imagined an Edwards-Obama ticket, instead of the other way around. What a difference a year makes.
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