Edwards’s endorsement could help quell whatever concerns the remaining uncommitted superdelegates have about Obama’s inability to connect with white, blue-collar voters. Those worries were no doubt magnified by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) landslide victory in Tuesday night’s contest.

Edwards and his wife Elizabeth remained neutral ahead of Obama’s big win in last week’s North Carolina primary, which, coupled with a narrow loss in Indiana, moved the Illinois senator much closer to clinching the nomination.