Edwards says endorsement was not timed

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) on Friday rejected speculation that his endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) in the Democratic presidential race was pre-planned to make it more effective.

{mosads}Edwards, who dropped out of the race earlier this year, said he made the decision to back Obama within 24 hours of making his support public. He added that “it is not true” that the announcement was timed to counteract Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) win in the West Virginia primary.

“I’m the one who made the decision about when to do this. I believe it was the right time to do it,” Edwards said on NBC’s "Today Show." “I made the decision that the public should know at this point what my view is.”

The former senator said he made went public this week because “it’s time for Democrats to start uniting around this candidate.”

Edwards also rejected talk of his joining Obama on the ticket.

“This is not something I'm interested in,” he said, adding that he spoke to Obama “only in the most abstract way” about what role he might play in his administration.