John Edwards didn't endorse anyone when he pulled out of the presidential race in January or before the crucial Super Tuesday primaries. He didn't endorse anyone even before voters in his home state of North Carolina went to the polls last week.

But on Wednesday night the former Tar Heel senator gave his political blessing to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, saying the party must unite for "the fight of our lives."

"There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership," said Edwards, standing next to Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. "That man is Barack Obama."

Edwards' timing puzzled some analysts and political strategists. But it came a day after New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had won a convincing victory in the West Virginia primary, a win she hoped would revive her increasingly long-shot presidential bid.

The Edwards endorsement could mean the 19 pledged delegates Edwards won in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina could move to Obama -- not enough for Obama to win the nomination, but adding to the air of inevitability around him.

"I think it's important for the Democratic Party to bring it to a close," said U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, a key Obama leader in North Carolina.

"She has a right to continue," Butterfield said. "But there is a time when reality sets in. Senator Edwards' endorsement should reinforce our assessment that the math is not on Senator Clinton's side."

Although the endorsement's timing was a surprise, Edwards said during the weekend that Obama had all but wrapped up the nomination.

Many of Edwards' key supporters in North Carolina, as elsewhere, had backed Obama, seeing him as a kindred spirit to Edwards in running outsider campaigns. Both Edwards and Obama portrayed Clinton as a Washington insider too tied to special interests and insufficiently opposed to continued U.S. involvement in Iraq.

Among the more recent Obama backers was Ed Turlington, a Raleigh lawyer who was Edwards' general chairman during his first presidential run in 2004.

Turlington said the timing of the endorsement could send a signal throughout the party that the race is essentially over and Democrats should unite behind Obama.

"It is one of the signals that the Democrats are looking for that process to come to a close," Turlington said.

Appeal to working-class whites

Edwards could also help Obama among white working class people who, in primaries from Ohio to West Virginia, have shown some reluctance to back Obama. An important part of Edwards' appeal was his up-from-the-mill-village campaign story, in which he promised to help working people.

"It may help Obama win back some of the demographic blocs where he has been unable to improve his numbers -- rural working class white voters," said Peter Francia, a political science professor at East Carolina University.

Both Clinton and Obama had courted Edwards, each visiting his sprawling home outside Chapel Hill. Obama shot hoops with Edwards in his indoor basketball court. But Edwards had played down a possible endorsement, saying he doubted they made much of a difference.

Until now, Edwards' public comments have been carefully divided between the two candidates in his few statements made since his withdrawal from the primary race.

Elizabeth Edwards had said she preferred Clinton's health care plan. She was not with her husband in Michigan when he made his announcement.

Edwards also had portrayed himself as a political fighter -- an image now more associated with Clinton. He praised Clinton on Wednesday, calling her "a woman who is made of steel.

"She is a leader in this country not because of her husband, but because of what she has done," Edwards said.

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

Tom Hendrickson, a Raleigh businessman who was Clinton's key adviser in North Carolina, said he was surprised that Edwards did not wait until closer to the convention to make an endorsement. He said he had hoped that Edwards would hold back.

"My preference is to let folks finish voting and let the process continue on," said Hendrickson, a former state party chairman.

Differences now forgotten

During the campaign, Edwards had at times criticized Obama for voting absent 100 times while serving in the Illinois legislature and for taking money from political action committees. He once said that Obama's call for "hope" is not enough and that Obama has not been around long enough to have much of a political track record.

On Wednesday, Edwards and Obama were only exchanging kind words. Edwards said that Obama "stands with me" to try to cut poverty in half within 10 years.

"The reason I am here tonight is because the Democratic voters in America have made their choice," Edwards said, "and so have I."