Edwards Endorses Obama, Even Without Jet Ski

The power of the Colbert Nation was on display at the Michigan announcement by John Edwards that he was endorsing Barack Obama.

Last week it was an astronaut sporting a Colbert Nation wrist bracelet, today it was center stage at one of the most important endorsements for either presidential candidate.

Almost the first words out of the former presidential candidate’s mouth were a reference to Edwards’ appearance on The Colbert Report last month, Comedy Central’s Peabody-winning send-up of cable news punditry.

"You know, I was promised a jet ski," he told a cheering throng of thousands in Michigan, Barack Obama at his side, "and I haven’t gotten it yet."

The reference was to his hilarious appearance on the Colbert show last month, when he said that a jet ski–actually two, one for his wife, two–was the price of his "white male voter" endorsement of either candidate.

Perhaps Obama had promised to make him a "double-naught" spy like Jethro on the old Beverly Hillbillies. On Colbert’s show, Edwards also suggested that he would only suport the candidate that would make him a spy so he could get all that cool spy stuff and travel to exotic places, so long as there was an opportunity for a jet ski chase.