Rewind that tape again.

John Edwards appeared on the morning shows on Friday and cheerfully subjected himself to grilling over the question of his possible endorsement in the Democratic primary.

Edwards, the former senator and Democratic presidential primary candidate from North Carolina, did not officially endorse. But did he, as some political observers speculated, utter a verbal slip-up signaling that he favored Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.?

The exchange in question occurred on the MSNBC show "Morning Joe," as Mika Brzezinski, the host, pressed Edwards on his potential endorsement.

"OK, well, I'm close," Brzezinski said. "I've just got to find out who Elizabeth voted for," she added, referring to Edwards' wife.

"I just voted for him on Tuesday, so — ," Edwards said.

Then David Shuster, another host, interrupted: "So was it a him or a her that you voted for?"

Laughing, Edwards backpedaled: "No, no."

So did he misspeak? Mangle his syntax? Or unwittingly reveal whom he will eventually endorse for the Democratic nomination for president?

Depends on whether he said "him" or "'em."

On "The Page," Mark Halperin's online political news hub, a headline wondered, "Did Edwards Tip His Hand?"

Edwards added to the speculation, lavishing praise on Obama in that same MSNBC interview. "He is clearly the likely nominee at this point," he said.

The vast majority of former Edwards staff members and advisers, including David E. Bonior, Edwards' former national campaign chairman, have thrown their support to Obama, a sure sign of thematic similarities between the two campaigns.

Former aides to Edwards, when contacted on Friday, loyally defended their old boss, saying that he surely intended to say "them." Several suggested that he was too smooth and practiced to slip up in such a way.

"Can't believe I just watched that whole thing," one aide responded via e-mail message, after dutifully playing a video clip from the Internet. "Not even close. 'Em. Them. The two of them. He ain't that dumb."

At least one was quick to blame Edwards' Southern accent.

"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."

Matthew Richardson, another friend in South Carolina and adviser, said, "You now know how we talk down here. It was just the common, gender neutral: 'em. You help translate for the rest of 'em." (Still another former aide laughed out loud when told of the Southern-accent defense.)

Edwards had appeared on MSNBC to promote his new anti-poverty initiative, Half in Ten, which is designed to cut poverty in half within a decade. But he has not been able to escape the question of his endorsement, and in interviews has played down its hypothetical importance.

"Barack Obama's done pretty well," he said, "without any endorsement from John Edwards."

Later in the day, Edwards was still trying to make clear that his choice remained unclear.

"To be clear, on MSNBC this morning, Sen. Edwards said, 'I voted for 'em, not him," said Matthew Nelson, a spokesman for Edwards. "It wasn't meant to be male or female specific."

• Georgia politics page
• Presidential campaign
• Conventions coverage