Elizabeth Edwards: "I was never inclined to endorse"

She didn't join in her husband's endorsement of Barack Obama, but, Edwards says, she's not going to endorse Hillary Clinton either.

Published May 19, 2008 3:30PM (EDT)

When John Edwards went to Michigan last week to endorse Barack Obama, his wife, Elizabeth, didn't travel with him. Neither, the Associated Press reported at the time, did she join in the endorsement. Given that she had publicly expressed support for Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan -- and opposition to Obama's -- there was reason to believe Elizabeth Edwards might endorse Clinton instead. But she's now thrown cold water on that idea.

In an e-mail to the Politico, Edwards said, "If you listened to what I said and not to what pundits said I was thinking, you would know that I was never inclined to endorse ... As a spouse, it is not surprising that I have a very small change purse of political capital, and I have repeatedly said that I was going to use my capital, such as it is, for the issues about which I care and not on an endorsement."

Edwards also said she will support the eventual Democratic nominee and work hard on his or her behalf.


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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2008 Elections Barack Obama John Edwards War Room