David Bonior, John Edwards' Campaign Manager, Endorses Barack Obama; Will Edwards Be Next?

Regardless of Senator Hillary Clinton's promises to fight to the end, the Obama campaign is gaining strength through super delegates and official endorsements. And while the Clinton camp maintains that it has a broader range of support, it simply does not have the numbers. And it doesn't look as if they're going to be getting any help from the John Edwards camp, either.

David Bonior, most recently John Edwards' campaign manager, officially endorsed Senator Barack Obama Thursday, May 8. Bonior released a statement that read in part: "Because Barack Obama continues to run a positive campaign that focuses on the issues that matter to ordinary Americans, he has won a commanding lead in this race, and I believe he can and will defeat John McCain in November." In endorsing Obama, Bonior adds his name to a growing list of ex-Edwards supporters signing on to the Obama campaign and adds to the speculation that John Edwards might just endorse Obama himself.

Bonior has strong union ties, a connection the Obama camp needs to make in order to appeal to the average blue collar worker. Bonior spent 26 years in Congress and has a pro-organized labor voting record. His closest ties are with the United Auto Workers, a union that has failed to endorse any of the Democratic candidates. The endorsement could go a long way in helping shift support to Barack Obama within the important white male blue collar demographic, a voting bloc with which Obama has had little success.

Something that would more than likely shift significantly with an outright John Edwards endorsement, especially considering the former North Carolina senator's large number of union endorsements.

It is not difficult to see John Edwards endorsing Senator Barack Obama. In fact, the campaign messages of the two men -- that it is time for change -- is identical. Only the delivery and exact wording was a bit different.