Updated at 11:37 am

by John McCormick and Naftali Bendavid

Still dressed in his workout clothes, Sen. Barack Obama briefly commented on Edwards' exit from the race as he returned to a downtown Denver hotel after a morning workout.

He said Edwards had exited the race in a "classy" way. "I think he's run a great campaign," Obama said.

Asked whether he would get Edwards' endorsement, Obama smiled and walked inside, saying he would say more on the topic later in the day.

Obama said he had spoken to Edwards, but did not provide any additional details about their conversation.

That was Obama's off-the-cuff comment. His campaign also issued an official statement:

“John Edwards has spent a lifetime fighting to give voice to the voiceless and hope to the struggling, even when it wasn’t popular to do or covered in the news. At a time when our politics is too focused on who’s up and who’s down, he made a nation focus again on who matters – the New Orleans child without a home, the West Virginia miner without a job, the families who live in that other America that is not seen or heard or talked about by our leaders in Washington. John and Elizabeth Edwards have always believed deeply that we can change this – that two Americans can become one, and that our country can rally around this common purpose. So while his campaign may end today, the cause of their lives endures for all of us who still believe that we can achieve that dream of one America.”
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