Endorsements Signal End for Clinton

The media has circled around Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D., N.Y.) campaign like vultures, constantly monitoring it to see if it's dead. Clinton has defiantly argued that voters, not pundits, decide elections.

But the voters might not decide after all. Two major endorsements -- John Edwards and NARAL Pro-Choice America -- have hurt Clinton badly in the last two days and effectively ended her chance to win the Democratic nomination.

The endorsements come at a poor time for Clinton. She should be riding high after a blowout victory in W. Virginia and building momentum for next Tuesday's contests in Kentucky and Oregon. Instead, her victory lap has been halted, and now she faces strong challenges to her bases of strength in the electorate.

Edwards ran on the issue of poverty and economic justice. Significant amounts of his support came from white-working class voters who saw him as a champion for their causes. Of course, Edwards found out one cannot survive on one group's vote alone. He suspended his race after a poor showing in South Carolina. But his name appeared on the ballot in W. Virginia, and he received close to 7% of the vote.

Since Edwards stepped down, Clinton has increasingly appealed to that constituency. Like her husband Bill in 1992, when the chips were down she turned to a more populist message. She offered solutions to voters to help with hard times. When she offered a gas tax holiday, it helped ensure she would be out front on sympathy for those feeling the forces of a flailing economy.