Just as the major broadcast network news shows were ready to roll out their Hillary Clinton interviews - a day after her big win in West Virginia - Edwards and Obama shoved Clinton's media offensive aside by leaking word of the endorsement.

"We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," said Edwards at an Obama rally in Michigan.

Edwards also brings to the table some pledged delegates who can go over to the Obama camp.  I've seen estimates ranging from 12 to 19 to as many as 32 delegates.

No matter the number, the math and the rationale gets tougher for Hillary Clinton, especially as more top-level Democrats start getting on the Obama Bandwagon.

"We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over," said Clinton campaign chair Terry McAuliffe in a statement.

Somehow I bet the actual language inside the Clinton Camp wasn't so generous.

The development obliterated the carefully crafted media plan of Team Clinton, which was to make the lead story on the news, "Hillary Says She's Staying In The Race."

"You don't walk off the court before the buzzer sounds," Clinton said on CNN. "You never know, you might get a three-point shot at the end."

Unfortunately for Clinton, there's only about a minute to go and she's down 11 points.  About the only thing really at stake is in Vegas - will she beat the spread or not.

I'm sure the Obama camp hopes some superdelegates look at the Edwards decision and think that it's time to get this primary race over with as well.

It certainly will help ease the pain of that 41 point loss in West Virginia where Obama did not carry a single county.

There are several ironic points related to Edwards and his Obama endorsement.

Edwards got out of this race way back in late January, the day after the Florida primary.  Ever since, Clinton and Obama have been hoping for his support.

You might have thought Edwards would have done this before May 6, when his home state of North Carolina gave Obama an easy primary victory, but he didn't.

The other irony was that in West Virginia, the name of John Edwards was still on the ballot.  I didn't see any network refer to this, but Edwards got 7% of the vote on Tuesday in that state.

Clinton got 67%, Obama 29% and Edwards 7%.

That means, without lifting a finger, Edwards got almost 1/4 the votes that Obama did.

Maybe the ultimate irony is that Edwards would be the perfect running mate for Obama, because the former North Carolina Senator would certainly carry the message well amongst working class whites and in rural America.

Just a thought.