Another one bites the dust.

DENVER - Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters' sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

The two-time White House candidate notified a close circle of senior advisers that he planned to make the announcement at a 1 p.m. EST event in New Orleans that had been billed as a speech on poverty, according to two aides. The decision came after Edwards lost the four states to hold nominating contests so far to rivals who stole the spotlight from the beginning — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

The former North Carolina senator will not immediately endorse either candidate in what is now a two-person race for the Democratic nomination, said one adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the announcement. Clinton said Wednesday that Edwards called her to inform her about his decision.

Obama told reporters Edwards had exited the race in a "classy" way. "I think he's run a great campaign," said Obama, who aides said also spoke with Edwards Tuesday night and asked for his endorsement.

In a statement from his campaign, Obama said Edwards "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."

"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," the statement said.

Four in 10 Edwards supporters said their second choice in the race is Clinton, while a quarter prefer Obama, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo poll conducted late this month. Both Clinton and Obama would welcome Edwards' backing and the support of the 56 delegates he had collected.

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Wow. It didn't take long to get down to just two Democratic candidates, did it?

That's easy to do when we've got the media picking our candidates for us. We really need a national primary day where we can ALL vote for who we want to be our party's candidate at the same time.

Yeah, I don't think I like this business of only a few states having the power to select our party nominees. And I thought the Electoral College was unfair!

treehugger is right on, the media is in control of the process.

segrep i agree that is why I would like to see a national primary. At least some of us other voters would feel part of the process.

Both candidates are scrambling for the supporters of Edwards.


HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Their words were civil but the body language told a different story.

Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama were on their best behavior at the CNN/Politico/Los Angeles Times debate here Thursday night -- confounding expectations that their first head-to-head confrontation would devolve into a name-calling fight.

"I was friends with Hillary Clinton before we started this campaign and I will be friends with Hillary Clinton after this campaign is over," said Obama, who remained cordial while honing the argument that he's more appealing to Republicans and independents than she is.


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