John Edwards endorsed his former rival Barack Obama's bid for the U.S. presidency on Wednesday, saying it's time for the members of his party to "come together as Democrats."

"The reason I am here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice and so have I," Edwards told an ecstatic crowd of supporters in Grand Rapids, Mich., Wednesday evening as the Illinois senator stood by his side.

"There's one man who knows in his heart it's time to create one America, not two, and that man is Barack Obama."

Edwards, who made economic and social issues a central tenet of his campaign platform, said Obama stands with him in a fight to cut poverty in half within 10 years.

The former North Carolina senator and trial lawyer has said he was not interested in taking on the vice-presidential candidate's role again after running on the bottom of the ticket with John Kerry four years ago.

His endorsement is sure to come as a blow to the campaign of Hillary Clinton, whose operatives have actively courted Edwards's support since he withdrew from the Democratic contest in January.

Shortly after the endorsement, Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe issued a statement, saying: "We respect John Edwards, but as the voters of West Virginia showed last night, this thing is far from over."

Clinton made party stronger: Edwards

Edwards also spoke for several minutes in praise of Clinton, saying the party has "two amazing candidates" and Democrats "are a stronger party" because of her.

"It is very, very hard to get up every day and do what she's done," he said. "What she has shown is strength and character."

Despite Tuesday's resounding defeat to Clinton in the West Virginia primary, Obama holds a near-unassailable lead among delegates who will choose the party's presidential nominee at the Democratic National Convention in August in Denver to go against presumptive Republican nominee John McCain.

Clinton said following her victory in West Virginia that she was "more determined than ever" to carry on with her campaign until all the primaries are finished on June 3.

Edwards is expected to release the 19 pledged delegates he won in earlier primaries and caucuses to Obama. He also enjoys high popularity with working-class white voters, a group Obama has struggled to win over in recent contests.

Edwards dropped out of the race after his underdog-populist campaign failed to gain any momentum in early Democratic contests amid the increasingly bitter battle between his better-funded rivals.

Edwards's wife, Elizabeth, was not at Wednesday's announcement but has offered praise for Clinton's health care plan in recent months.

Last March, Elizabeth Edwards announced that the breast cancer she thought she had beaten had returned, but the couple would continue the campaign.

With files from the Associated Press

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