Obama Makes Secret Trip to Confer with Edwards

We all knew this was going to happen, but for some reason the Obama campaign did not want to make the trip to meet with John Edwards public.

CHICAGO (AP) - Barack Obama sneaked down to North Carolina Sunday and met with former rival John Edwards, who has yet to make an endorsement in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Officials at North Carolina television station WTVD said they have video taken from a helicopter of Obama leaving Edwards' home in Chapel Hill. A producer said the station was "tipped off" about the meeting, but said the source was confidential.

The Obama campaign confirmed the meeting. Although reporters normally travel everywhere with Obama, he left them behind to fly down in secret from his hometown.

"Senator Obama visited this morning with John and Elizabeth Edwards at their home in Chapel Hill to discuss the state of the campaign and the pressing issues facing American families," said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. He wouldn't comment on the possibility of an endorsement.

In an interview Sunday night with WITI-TV in Milwaukee, Obama said, "The meeting with John, we just wanted to talk about how we can move the party in a direction that focuses on middle-class issues - relieving poverty, reducing the influence of special interests in Washington."

People close to the Edwardses, speaking privately, say they have been torn about whom to support. The former North Carolina senator is concerned that Obama may not be ready for the presidency and that his health care plan is inferior. But Edwards was highly critical of Clinton - her policies, her ties to special interests and her character - during his campaign, making it more difficult to support her now.

Does anyone really think they talked about "relieving poverty" and "reducing the influence of special interests in Washington"? No, but it makes a better sounding story.

They talked about Obama's numbers and the likelihood he could win and what he'd be willing to do for Edwards in order to earn his endorsement. Edwards only won 26 delegates so it's not like there's a lot at stake in those terms, but I'm sure Obama would rather have Edwards' supporters leaning his way rather than being pushed to Hillary.