GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. — Barack Obama advanced his drive to unite the Democratic Party behind his candidacy for president Wednesday by winning the long-sought endorsement of vanquished rival John Edwards at a boisterous rally.
The announcement was a blow to Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose bid for the Democratic nomination appears all but lost, and brought Obama a welcome distraction from his landslide defeat Tuesday in the West Virginia primary.
The 41-percentage-point rout sparked new questions about his persistent troubles appealing to white, blue-collar voters, even if it did little to boost Clinton's prospects. In Edwards, Obama picked up the support of a former presidential candidate who had emphasized his roots as the son of a mill worker and aimed his pitch at working-class voters.
"The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and so have I," Edwards told the enthusiastic crowd. "There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up. There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America, not two. And that man is Barack Obama."
In another sign of Obama's progress in uniting the party, the Illinois senator also won the endorsement Wednesday of a major abortion rights group, NARAL Pro-Choice America. The group praised Clinton, but its rejection of her was stinging nonetheless for the New York senator, who is seeking to become the nation's first female president.
Even though Clinton vowed Wednesday to fight to the last contests on June 3 in Montana and South Dakota, Obama's rally with Edwards appeared choreographed to ease her exit.
Speaking to 12,500 Obama supporters here in a sports arena, Edwards, one of the most prominent Democrats who had not endorsed a candidate, paid lengthy tribute to Clinton. The mention of her name initially sparked boos, a sign of the fractured state of the party as the nominating race winds down.
"It is hard to go out there and speak up when the odds turn against you," Edwards said, adding that Clinton had "shown strength and character" in battling for improved healthcare and a better life for millions of Americans.
"She is a woman who, in my judgment, is made of steel, and she's a leader in this country, not -- not -- because of her husband, but because of what she has done," he said.
