John Edwards is out. It seems to be the right move. I mean, sure, he could have continued on and played some sort of role at the convention with some of the delegates he racked up, but at the end of the day, it's got to be about the good of the party. And we all know this is a two person race between Clinton and Obama. Also, Edwards did himself a favor by saving face. I mean, you don't want to go around trolling for votes with no chance of securing the nomination. At that point, it will begin to look like a narcassistic march into oblivion.
The question now is will he endorse Obama at some point? The conventional wisdom is that it makes sense to endorse Obama. There's no love lost with Hillary and Obama's message of change is similiar to Edwards. You get a sense that momentum may be shifting. Ted Kennedy stumping with Obama. Maybe an Edwards endorsement. A big South Carolina victory. JFK and Obama mentioned in the same speech. More below from The Financial Times on the Edwards pullout:
Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards is quitting the race to become Democratic candidate for president, according to US reports.
Mr Edwards, who has fallen far behind Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic nomination and has yet to win a state primary contest, said he would end his campaign for the nomination.
His decision narrows the Democratic field to two candidates ahead of next week's "Super Tuesday" contests when 24 states hold contests for one or both parties.
Earlier this week Mr Edwards had pledged to continue his pursuit of the candidacy through the next Tuesday. Spokeswoman Colleen Murray said Mr Edwards would make the announcement in New Orleans later on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
It was not clear whether Mr Edwards planned to endorse either of the remaining candidates.
Mr Edwards decision to step down comes after Mr Obama secured the endorsement of Massachussetts senator Ted Kennedy, one of the most senior Democratic senators, earlier this week.
It also comes after Hillary Clinton won comfortably over Barack Obama in the Democratic primary in Florida on Tuesday. The victory had only symbolic value because Florida has been barred from the Democratic nomination process after a dispute with the party.