Edwards hands White House race over to Clinton, Obama

[Ron Burgundy]

AFP - In a stunning decision Wednesday, John Edwards dropped out of the Democratic White House race transforming it into a straight fight between bitter rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

On the Republican side, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani was also expected to quit in favor of endorsing long-time pal John McCain after failing to make an impact with his campaign.

Edwards's decision to abandon his second quest for the presidency after a slew of poor performances, leaves the field clear for Clinton and Obama to battle it out for the party's nomination.

"Yes, I can confirm that," said Edwards's campaign spokeswoman Colleen Murray, when asked about reports that the multimillionaire was pulling out of the race to stand in November's presidential elections.

Murray said Edwards, who had stood as the champion of the middle classes, would announce his exit from the race on Wednesday in New Orleans, the flood-ravaged city where he formally launched his campaign in late 2006.

Despite coming a respectable second to Obama in the very first vote in Iowa early this month, Edwards, 54, whose wife Elizabeth has incurable cancer, has failed to shine since, limping in third in all the other primaries so far.

He even admitted to getting his "butt kicked" in Nevada, where Clinton, 60, triumphed adding to her victories in New Hampshire and Michigan.

A hefty defeat in Florida late Tuesday proved to be the final blow for the former senator who also lost his 2004 tilt at the White House.

Clinton coasted to a symbolic victory in Florida with 50 percent, which boosts her bid to be America's first woman president ahead of next week's Super Tuesday when some 22 states will vote for their candidates.

But with no delegates at stake in "The Sunshine State," Obama's campaign brushed off the results and forged ahead with the young Illinois senator's bid to be the country's first black president.

Veteran Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said both remaining candidates could benefit from Edwards's withdrawal: Obama might pick up those backers eager for change to add to his wins in Iowa and South Carolina, while Clinton could grab some of his hefty labor support.

"But long term, the candidate who talks about the plight of the poor, that champions the middle class, that talks about trade and health care ... will benefit from the support of John Edwards," Brazile told CNN.

Obama, 46, paid tribute to Edwards saying he "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 most expensive and most protracted White House race in history was also set to claim another victim with Giuliani's widely expected to bow out, and endorse McCain helping to narrow down the muddied Republican field.

Arizona Senator McCain, who was once given up for lost after almost running out of money in mid-2006, was also celebrating Wednesday after his win in Florida late Tuesday pushed him to the front of the Republican pack.

McCain, 71, secured a solid victory in the tight Florida race beating former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney to take 36 percent of the vote and a five percentage point lead over Romney. Giuliani came third in Florida with 15 percent.

McCain's triumph gave him a high-energy boost as the 2008 White House race sweeps forward to next week's Super Tuesday.

"My friends, in one week, in one week we will have as close to a national primary as we've ever had in this country. I intend to win it and be the nominee of our party!" McCain told supporters late Tuesday.

Ordained Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee again failed to live up to his early promise when he pulled off a stunning upset to take Iowa, coming in fourth in Florida with 13 percent.

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080130/pl_afp/usvote [link]