John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama ... or did he?

This article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows how crazy things have gotten in the endorsement watch. Edwards was talking about voting in the North Carolina primaries last week when he said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, “I just voted for him on Tuesday, so --.”

He was interrupted and asked whether he voted for a him or a her.

Edwards demurred and said he wasn’t indicating an endorsement. But that didn’t stop reporters from frothing at the collective mouth:

“So did he misspeak? Mangle his syntax? Or unwittingly reveal whom he will eventually endorse for the Democratic nomination for president?” NY Times News Service reporter Julie Bosman breathlessly wondered.

Bosman got this explanation from one Edwards surrogate:

“The problem is you people don’t speak Southern,” said John C. Moylan, a former adviser who lives in South Carolina. “He says, ‘I just voted for ‘em on Tuesday.’ ‘Em is not a gender-specific noun.”

“You people”—meaning, presumably, Yankees from the New York Times News Service. Ha ha!!

So that begs the age-old question: Is grits singular? Or are grits plural?

Oh, wait—wrong question.

What does it mean when we’re left to parse Southern syntax in the race for the presidency? We’ve come a long way, baby.