Otherwise, I suspect he won't endorse at all.  My reasoning is that he would best help Hillary by not endorsing, whereas to help Obama he will need to fully endorse.  

Grain of salt caveat:  this coming from a person who really hoped that it would be Clinton and Edwards slugging it out at this point.  

--The American voters are, um, many of them are idiots--it's like their choosing "American Idol" or something.

--The press is simply a disgrace.

So HRC announces yesterday that she's leaving WI Monday morning, earlier than planned and opening up the  speculation that her WI internals aren't looking great.  

Then with the storm today, she says all events are canceled.  Then BO cancels all events and decides that now would be a good time to go visit JE.  Then, with him gone, HRC says 'psyche'- I'm saying in WI until (at least) Monday night.

It's very possible that the timing of things as I've laid out can be easily dis-proven.  But, I thought I'd share it as a little food for thought.  

A number of senior Democrats, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and three candidates who have dropped out of the 2008 race, former Senator John Edwards and Senators Christopher J. Dodd and Joseph R. Biden Jr., have spoken with Mr. Gore in recent days. None have endorsed a candidate, although Ms. Pelosi made comments on Friday that were widely seen as supportive of Mr. Obama when it came to the process the party should use to make its choice of candidate.

If Edwards endorses Clinton, on the other hand, I see a larger effect. It's unexpected, for one. For another, Edwards can remedy the thing that Hillary seems most to lack in the public eye: the perception that she will bring about change.

Hard to say which way Edwards actually will go, however; there are reasonably good arguments in both directions. Certainly Edwards' health plan is far more similar to Hillary's. She could rightly give him credit as the architect of the plan, and if he wants a concrete piece of lasting legislation to be associated with his name, Hillary should be the right choice. And of course nothing could be more of a contrast than Obama's negotiation and kumbayah on the one hand and Edwards' fighting spirit on the other.

One of the news stories after his suspending his campaign was that he didn't want to be the spoiler at a historic moment - first AA president or first woman president.

After considering what posts he might serve in either an Obama or Clinton administration, I think he serves his ultimate goal by staying away from both of them - both in the election and in the assumed administration.

What I'd really like to see is Edwards, perhaps joined by Gore, work as a leader/coordinator of all the progressive interest groups - civil rights, trade, labor, healthcare and so on - to bring fighting power to counter the lobbyists and hold the winning feet to the fire.

I realize that we have organizations like PFAW, but their effectiveness is limited.  I'm thinking more a progressive version of the DLA gaining clout with the administration and with both houses of Congress.  They could lobby, bring lawsuits.

Now if Edwards goes out and actively campaigns for Obama as a surrogate on the same schedule that he would as a presidential candidate himself, forks over all his lists, starts raising money for Obama...that's a different story. May not make a huge difference overnight, but could make quite a bit of difference within a few weeks.

Badger LawReviewThe case grew out of a police raid in full tactical gear in broad daylight on September 18, 2002 on the El Rey grocery store and tortilla factory in Milwaukee. A number of Milwaukee citizens complained about the tactics used by the police, including forcing pregnant women to lie on their stomach, jamming gun barrels into the ribs of store customers, and obscuring their identities.

No action taken yet in El Rey raid case
Georgia Pabst, Milwaukee Journal/Sentinal Sept. 7, 2003

Nearly a year after Milwaukee police stormed two Latino grocery stores and a tortilla factory in search of antibiotic drugs, arrested five workers and outraged the Latino community, no charges have been filed.And a joint complaint submitted to the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission on Nov. 7 by 25 workers at the El Rey grocery store and tortilla factory alleging police used excessive force while executing the search warrant still sits.

The couple has been impressed with Clinton, who has more effectively courted them since the 2004 vice presidential nominee dropped out, people who talk to the Edwardses say. Obama has been less attentive, they say, and some of those close to the Edwardses have been annoyed that Obama has continued to ridicule him for once saying his biggest weakness is that he has a powerful response to seeing pain in others.

New AP article

when i was in hs (pleistocine era), i got called to the office after having filled out the "emergency contact" card. the item in question was "sex". i put down "yes". even back then i was honing my smart-ass skills.