RALEIGH, N.C. -- They say timing is everything.

 

Wednesday was a day the Barack Obama campaign should have been licking its wounds following a loss in West Virginia. However, they are celebrating.

 

Obama got a big endorsement by former North Carolina senator, and former Presidential candidate John Edwards.

 

The endorsement should not have come as too much of a surprise for close followers of the race.

 

This is a move telegraphed by Edwards over the last week by speaking about Obama during an appearance on “The Today Show” last Friday.

 

"I think he has, what he brings to the table, is the capacity, number one to unite the Democratic Party, number two to bring in new voters," Edwards told interviewer Matt Luaer.

 

Now in Michigan, Edwards seals his endorsement with his own former campaign's message.

 

“There is one man who knows in his heart that it is time to create one America and not two, and that man is Barack Obama,” Edwards said during a rally in Grand Rapids Michigan.

 

But beyond Wednesday's headlines, how much does this endorsement mean for the continuing race?

 

“In terms of having an impact, it would have had much more of an impact and been looked upon much more favorably by the eventual nominee had this happened earlier,” North Carolina State Political Science Professor Steven Greene said.

 

Professor Greene says this endorsement could be chalked up to the Democratic Party wrapping up a long run.

 

“It's to the point where it's obvious to most political spectators and insiders that Obama is going to be the nominee,” Greene said.

 

So as Edwards took the podium in Michigan, he made a nod to Senator Hillary Clinton's run, even as he has a hand in winding it down.

 

“It is very, very hard, to get up every day and do what she's done, it is hard to go out there and fight and speak up when the odds turn against you,” Edwards said.