BREAKING: Edwards to endorse Obama

Traditional news outlets are reporting that likely Democratic nominee Barack Obama will receive the endorsement of former rival John Edwards in just under an hour at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

All we can say is....it's about time. We've waited months to hear this:

Officials announced the news shortly after Mr. Obama landed here late this afternoon. The campaign has timed the announcement to coincide with the start of the major evening newscasts, which would have otherwise focused on Senator Hillary Clinton’s landslide victory in West Virginia, which raised new questions about Mr. Obama’s strength with white working class voters.

Mr. Obama’s campaign is hoping it will be taken as the start of a partywide coalescence around Mr. Obama as the Democratic nominee.

The endorsement ended months of speculation over Mr. Edwards’s preference in the Democratic nominating contest, during which he mostly stayed silent and close to home in Chapel Hill with his wife, Elizabeth.

But in recent days, Mr. Edwards had made his choice all but obvious, giving a series of television interviews hinting that he was close to endorsing Mr. Obama, who last week he called “clearly the nominee at this point.”

And it was little surprise to close observers of Mr. Edwards on the campaign trail in the past year, when he regularly attacked so-called establishment politicians like Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and teamed with Mr. Obama against her in debates.

Earlier today, Barack Obama's campaign received the endorsement or NARAL Pro-Choice America, which came as a bitter disappointment to the Clinton campaign. Clinton allies are expressing great displeasure at the endorsement, such as Ellen Malcom of Emily's List, who has condemned NARAL's move:

I think it is tremendously disrespectful to Sen. Clinton . . . to not give her the courtesy to finish the final three weeks of the primary process...It certainly must be disconcerting for elected leaders who stand up for reproductive rights and expect the choice community will stand with them.

So what you're saying is that it is disrespectful for NARAL to make an endorsement at this point in the process. Come on! Any individual or organization is free to endorse a candidate whenever they want. You're one of Senator Clinton's earliest backers, so you clearly don't think it's disrespectful to take sides, especially early in the process. How can you complain about the NARAL endorsement?

Unlike you, they gave serious consideration to both candidates, and came to a decision through a vote.

What's done is done. Senator Clinton has fought hard for the nomination, but she has lost. She can be as determined as she wants - the math is just not in her favor.