What'd he say? Speculation mounts of Edwards Obama endorsement
UPDATE: Edwards denies saying 'him'
John Edwards is trying to quiet speculation that he acknowledged voting for Barack Obama in Tuesday's North Carolina primary. He says he was misheard in an excerpt from a televised interview Friday morning.
MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski quizzed the North Carolinian on his vote in Tuesday's primary there, but Edwards seemed resolved not to give any clues away. About 10 minutes into the interview, though, Edwards might've made his intentions clear.
"You're saying this candidate you voted for will be the candidate you potentially will endorse?" Brzezinski asked.
"I'd say that's very likely," Edwards said. "I just voted for 'em on Tuesday."
Blogger and author Cliff Schecter and a DailyKos diarist heard the statement as "voted for him," meaning Obama. But there's some ambiguity in the statement, and Edwards' southern twang could be to blame. He could've just as easily meant he voted for them -- meaning just that he voted in the North Carolina primary itself.
"Did Edwards Tip His Hand?" asked a headline at Mark Halperin's The Page.
Apparently, he didn't. An Edwards' spokesman pointed RAW STORY to this item, in which the former Democratic vice presidential candidate cleared up the confusion.
"I said I voted for 'em,'" Edwards said in an interview shortly afterwards with USA TODAY. "I'm a Southerner. ... It wasn't meant to be male or female."
In a tough-to-hear follow up, David Schuster asked if "it was a him or a her that you voted for." Edwards demurred -- "I'm not going to answer that," he seems to say.
Speculation over who Edwards is going to endorse has flared up throughout the primary campaign, and it became especially intense in the days before North Carolina's primary. In an interview earlier this week with People magazine, Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, spoke about their likes and dislikes for both candidates. John Edwards criticized Clinton's "old politics," while his wife praised her plan for universal healthcare.
During Friday's MSNBC interview, Edwards said he thought Obama would emerge as the Democratic nominee, but he had kind words for both candidates. He's expected to officially announce his endorsement soon.
The following video is from MSNBC. The particular remark comes after 9:45 into the clip.
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